AN ORDERED STUDY PLAN
System design learning roadmap.
Learn architecture trade-offs before tackling design scenarios. Work through 3 modules, then use the connected questions to check what you can explain without the notes.
- STEP 1
Architecture & API design
- How should I start a system design answer? · 2 min
- Monolith vs modular monolith vs microservices? · 2 min
- What are layered, clean and hexagonal architecture? · 2 min
- What are DDD, SOLID and dependency inversion? · 2 min
- What makes a good REST API? · 2 min
- How do I choose SQL vs MongoDB? · 2 min
Checkpoint: explain the ideas above with an example and a limitation before continuing.
- STEP 2
Scaling & distributed systems
- Vertical vs horizontal scaling? · 2 min
- Cache, CDN, replica or shard: which solves what? · 2 min
- How does cache-aside work? · 2 min
- What does CAP actually mean? · 2 min
- What is eventual consistency? · 2 min
Checkpoint: explain the ideas above with an example and a limitation before continuing.
- STEP 3
Messaging & reliability
- Queue vs event vs worker? · 2 min
- How do I design retries and dead-letter handling? · 2 min
- What are idempotency and the outbox pattern? · 2 min
- How do I handle partial failure across services? · 2 min
Checkpoint: explain the ideas above with an example and a limitation before continuing.
Check your understanding
After the lessons, rehearse the 25 connected questions. Revisit the lesson when you cannot yet explain why the answer works.
Practice System design Review the interview guide