System design is the skill that separates developers who build features from engineers who design systems. Most engineers struggle with it because they have never had to make the decisions that shape a system — choosing between SQL and NoSQL under real constraints, deciding where to place a cache when your data has different consistency requirements, or figuring out how to handle 10x traffic growth without rewriting everything. YouTube videos and blog posts give you patterns but never teach you when a pattern is the wrong choice.
This training puts you in the architect's seat. Working 1:1 / Batch with someone who makes these decisions daily on production systems, you will design complete systems from scratch, defend your choices against probing questions, and develop the trade-off analysis instinct that interviewers and engineering leaders look for. Whether you are preparing for system design interviews at top companies or want to make better design decisions in your current role, this training builds the thinking framework you cannot get from reading alone.
Who This Training Is For
You are targeting companies that evaluate system design depth in interviews. You need structured practice designing systems under time constraints with an architect who knows what interviewers look for.
You can build components well but struggle to see the full picture — how database choices affect API design, how caching changes data flow, and how one decision constrains every decision that follows.
You work on backend services daily but want to understand the design reasoning behind the systems you maintain — why they were built this way, what trade-offs were made, and how you would improve them.
You have deep technical skills but need to strengthen your ability to communicate design decisions, write architecture documents, and lead design reviews with confidence and clarity.
Curriculum
A repeatable framework for breaking down ambiguous requirements into clear components, data flows, and service boundaries. Learn how to scope a problem, identify core entities, and sketch architectures that communicate your thinking clearly.
SOLID principles applied to real systems, design pattern selection based on actual problems (not textbook examples), interface design, and building class hierarchies that are extensible without becoming over-engineered.
Horizontal scaling strategies, consistent hashing, sticky sessions, connection pooling, read replicas, write sharding, and understanding where bottlenecks actually occur in production systems under load.
When to use relational vs. document vs. wide-column vs. graph databases. Schema design for read-heavy vs. write-heavy workloads, denormalization trade-offs, and how access patterns should drive your database choice — not the other way around.
Cache-aside, write-through, write-behind patterns. Cache invalidation strategies that actually work, TTL tuning, cache stampede prevention, and understanding when caching introduces more problems than it solves.
When to use queues vs. direct calls, choosing between Kafka, SQS, and RabbitMQ for different use cases, exactly-once semantics, consumer group patterns, and designing async workflows that are observable and debuggable.
RESTful API design that is consistent and evolvable, pagination strategies, API versioning approaches, rate limiting with token bucket and sliding window algorithms, and designing APIs that third-party developers can actually use.
A structured approach for the 45-minute interview format: how to clarify requirements, estimate capacity, sketch architecture, deep-dive into components, and discuss trade-offs — practiced with real mock sessions and detailed feedback.
Hands-On Projects
Go beyond the basic hash-and-redirect tutorial. Design a URL shortener that handles millions of daily redirects with sub-10ms latency, tracks click analytics in real time, supports custom aliases and expiration, and stays operational during traffic spikes from viral links — with a realistic cost analysis of your infrastructure choices.
Design a notification system that delivers push notifications, emails, and in-app messages across web and mobile platforms. Handle user preferences, delivery deduplication, retry logic for failed deliveries, notification prioritization during high-volume events, and provide delivery tracking so product teams can measure engagement.
Design the news feed system for a social platform — handling fan-out on write vs. fan-out on read trade-offs, implementing a ranking algorithm that balances recency with relevance, supporting mixed content types, and ensuring the feed loads in under 200ms even for users following thousands of accounts.
How It Works
60-90 minute live sessions where you design systems on a whiteboard, explain your reasoning, and get real-time feedback from an architect. Structured like a design review, not a lecture.
Regular mock system design interviews that simulate real interview conditions. Get detailed feedback on your approach, communication, trade-off analysis, and areas to strengthen.
Write architecture design documents for each project and receive detailed written feedback. Build the skill of communicating complex designs in writing — a critical skill for senior and staff roles.
Ask design questions between sessions — whether about a system at work, an interview problem you encountered, or a design pattern you want to understand deeper. Ongoing support from a practicing architect.
Your Instructor
Software Architect · 20+ Years Experience
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