System Design Foundations

Master the architectural principles needed to transition from coding basics to building robust, high-traffic SaaS platforms. You will bridge the gap between business requirements and scalable technical execution. * **Scalable architecture patterns** for high-traffic SaaS applications * **Database sharding and replication** for data consistency * **Load balancing strategies** to ensure high availability * **Microservices communication** using REST and message queues

11 sections ยท 52 lessons

Course outline

Scaling Fundamentals

  1. Server-Database Separation
  2. Scaling with Caching Layers
  3. Load Balancers & Stateless
  4. Caching & CDNs
  5. Power of Two
  6. Latency & Storage
  7. Scaling Fundamentals

Interview Framework

  1. Clarify Requirements
  2. Strategic Constraints for Focused Design
  3. Mastering Constraint Ledgers
  4. Mastering Functional and Non-Functional Requirements
  5. Design & Deep Dive
  6. System Capacity and Ballpark Estimates
  7. System Architecture Diagramming Conventions
  8. Interview Framework

Traffic Management

  1. Token Bucket Algorithm
  2. Scalable Token Bucket Implementation
  3. Lazy Bucket Refill Implementation
  4. Window-Based Rate Limiting
  5. Scalable Sliding Window Rate Limiting
  6. Load Balancing Algorithms
  7. Load Balancing for Mobile Clients
  8. Traffic Management

Data Distribution

  1. Consistent Hashing
  2. Virtual Nodes
  3. Database Replication
  4. Database Sharding
  5. Data Cardinality and Distribution Strategies
  6. Distributed Transactions with the Saga Pattern
  7. Scalable System Architecture Synthesis
  8. Data Distribution

Storage Systems

  1. SQL vs NoSQL
  2. Application vs. Database Layer Safeguards
  3. Mastering Column-Family Databases
  4. Document Store Database Mechanisms
  5. Key-Value Stores
  6. Vector Clocks for Conflict Resolution
  7. CAP Theorem
  8. Distributed ID Generation
  9. Storage Systems

Caching

  1. Cache-Aside & Read-Through
  2. Write-Through & Write-Behind

Common Patterns

  1. URL Shortener Design
  2. Web Crawler Politeness
  3. Multi-Channel Notifications
  4. News Feed Fan-Out

Real-Time Communication

  1. WebSocket Chat
  2. Chat Storage & Groups
  3. Autocomplete Trie

Media Systems

  1. Video Upload & Transcoding
  2. Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
  3. File Chunking & Sync
  4. Metadata & Conflicts

Asynchronous Processing

  1. Message Queue Benefits
  2. Delivery Guarantees & DLQs

Architecture Patterns

  1. Stateless Architecture Principles
  2. When Stateful Works

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