← ALL LEARNING PATHSPATH 01 / Foundational · Senior-ready

System Design Fundamentals

Build a repeatable interview framework: requirements, estimates, architecture, bottlenecks, and trade-offs.

5 STEPS80 MINUTESDEVICE-LOCAL PROGRESS
  1. 01
    read12 min

    Frame the problem and requirements

    Separate functional scope from availability, durability, latency, and security goals.

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  2. 02
    read15 min

    Estimate capacity before choosing technology

    Translate hosts, events, and payload size into throughput and storage pressure.

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  3. 03
    read18 min

    Read the high-level architecture

    Identify the synchronous path, asynchronous fan-out, and system of record.

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  4. 04
    lab20 min

    Model a baseline architecture

    Use the Decision Lab to turn traffic and durability constraints into a concrete design.

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  5. 05
    review15 min

    Review failure modes and trade-offs

    Practice explaining what fails first and which guarantees you intentionally weaken.

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