System Design Interview — Learning Path & Blog Index

This page is the master index for Robina Li: interview learning path, how posts relate to each other, and links to every post (172 total).

Quick links: Learning path (detailed) · Technology quick reference · References · All posts

Read in order; use technology guides when a design needs a specific component.

Step 0 — External + blog map

Resource Role
Hello Interview — System Design Framework, patterns, question breakdowns
ByteByteGo — System Design Interview Visual course, classic problems
System Design References Books, videos, curated links
Distributed System Design Ecosystem How DB, cache, queue, LB, K8s fit together
This page Full catalog + relationships

Step 1 — Foundations

  1. Interview Framework
  2. Interview Guide
  3. API Gateway connections
  4. Cloud overview · Embedded overview
  5. CAP Theorem · Domain patterns · Tech trade-offs

Step 2 — Level 1 (beginner)

Step 3 — Level 2 (distributed)

Step 4 — Level 3 (large scale)

Extended path: System Design Learning Path & Technology Index

2. How this blog is organized

New to system design? This section explains what kinds of posts exist, what order to read them in, and why some topics appear more than once. You do not need to read every post—use this map to pick the right starting point.

The big picture (30 seconds)

  1. Learn how to run an interview (framework, vocabulary, trade-offs).
  2. Practice classic design questions (URL shortener, chat, news feed, …).
  3. Look up technologies (Redis, Kafka, databases) only when a design needs them.

External courses (Hello Interview, ByteByteGo) pair well with this blog. Start with References and Section 1 above for a week-by-week path.

START
  │
  ├─► ① Map & motivation
  │     • This page (you are here)
  │     • [Interview framework](/blog_system_design/2025/10/04/system-design-interview-framework/)
  │     • [References](/blog_system_design/2025/11/03/system-design-references/)
  │
  ├─► ② Core concepts (read before big designs)
  │     • [Interview guide](/blog_system_design/2025/11/03/system-design-interview/)
  │     • [CAP theorem](/blog_system_design/2025/11/29/cap-theorem-guide/) · [Common patterns](/blog_system_design/2025/11/24/common-domain-system-design-patterns/)
  │
  ├─► ③ First designs (beginner-friendly)
  │     • [URL shortener](/blog_system_design/2026/05/26/design-url-shortener/) · [Rate limiter](/blog_system_design/2026/05/26/design-rate-limiter/)
  │     • [Parking lot](/blog_system_design/2025/11/24/design-parking-lot-system/) · [Library system](/blog_system_design/2025/11/24/design-library-management-system/)
  │
  ├─► ④ Bigger systems (when ③ feels comfortable)
  │     • [News feed](/blog_system_design/2025/11/13/design-news-feed/) · [Chat](/blog_system_design/2025/11/14/design-chat-system/) · [Web crawler](/blog_system_design/2025/11/13/design-web-crawler/)
  │
  ├─► ⑤ Large products (advanced)
  │     • [Twitter](/blog_system_design/2025/10/29/system-design-twitter/) · [YouTube](/blog_system_design/2025/11/14/design-youtube/) · [Uber](/blog_system_design/2025/11/20/design-ride-sharing-service-uber/)
  │
  └─► ⑥ Technology guides (on demand)
        • Open [Technology quick reference](/blog_system_design/2025/11/29/technology-list-quick-reference/) when you need Redis, Kafka, SQL, etc.

Five types of posts (and when to use each)

Every post on this blog fits one of these buckets. Section 3 lists them all.

Type What it is When to read it Title often looks like
Foundations & interview prep How to think, what to say in interviews, book/course links First 1–2 weeks of study “Interview framework”, “References”, “CAP theorem”
System design problem Step-by-step answer to “Design a X” (requirements → API → diagram → scale) Main practice after foundations “Design a URL Shortener”, “Design a Chat System”
Product-scale design Shorter notes on a famous product (Twitter, GitHub, …) Quick review or second pass on a topic “System Design: Twitter”, “System Design: YouTube”
Technology guide Deep dive on one tool (Redis, Kafka, PostgreSQL, …) When that tool appears in a design you are studying “Redis comprehensive guide”, “Apache Kafka guide”
OS / embedded prep Interviews focused on OS, JNI, devices, glass, Android native Only if your role is OS/middleware/embedded “OS frameworks”, “JNI bridge”, “embedded”

Not sure where to click?

Your goal Start here
I have never done a system design interview Interview framework → URL shortener
I know basics; I want interview practice Section 1 — Level 2 & 3 above
I keep hearing “use Redis/Kafka” and feel lost Technology quick reference → pick one guide
I want one long curated list Learning path index
I need the full map of components Distributed system ecosystem

Why the same topic sometimes has two posts

This is normal. Use the rule that fits your situation:

A. Full guide + short notes (read the full one first)
The full post walks through requirements, APIs, scaling, and trade-offs. The short post is a quick recap—good for review right before an interview, not ideal as your first read.

Topic Read first (full) Then review (short)
URL shortener Full guide Short notes
Rate limiter Full guide Short notes

B. Simple version → harder version (go in order)
Start with the simpler problem, then read the scaled-up version.

Start here Then read
Web crawler Distributed web crawler (10k nodes)
Social feed (local) News feed (distributed)

C. Product overview + focused deep dive (either order is OK)
One post covers the whole product; another zooms in on one piece (e.g. feed only).

Product overview Focused deep dive
System Design: Twitter Design social media feed (Twitter)
System Design: YouTube (short) Design YouTube (full)

D. Index page → many linked posts
Some posts are tables of contents, not lessons themselves.

Index (start here) What it links to
Technology quick reference All technology guides (Redis, Kafka, databases, …)
Learning path index Level 1–3 design problems in study order
This page Learning path + every post by category

How designs and technologies connect

You do not read every technology guide first. Use this loop while you practice:

Step What to do Example on this blog
1 Learn how to structure an interview answer Interview framework
2 Pick one small design and read it end-to-end URL shortener
3 If the post names a tool you do not know, pause and open only that guide “cache” → Redis; “queue” → Kafka
4 Finish the design, then pick the next problem (repeat steps 2–3) Rate limiter → News feed
5 After several designs, try larger systems Twitter · Uber
6 Optional: see how pieces fit together Distributed system ecosystem

At a glance (same flow, top to bottom):

  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  Interview basics   │  framework, CAP, patterns
  └──────────┬──────────┘
             ▼
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  One small design   │  URL shortener, rate limiter, parking lot…
  └──────────┬──────────┘
             ▼
       ┌───────────┐     Yes    ┌──────────────────┐
       │ Unknown   │───────────►│ Technology guide │──┐
       │ tool name?│            │ (Redis, Kafka…)  │  │
       └─────┬─────┘            └──────────────────┘  │
             │ No                                      │
             └──────────────────┬──────────────────────┘
                                ▼
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  Next design        │  repeat until comfortable
  └──────────┬──────────┘
             ▼
  ┌─────────────────────┐
  │  Larger systems     │  Twitter, YouTube, Uber…
  └─────────────────────┘

flowchart TB
  A(["Start"])
  B["① Interview basics"]
  C["② One small design"]
  D{"③ Unfamiliar tool<br/>in this post?"}
  E["Read that tech guide only"]
  F["④ Finish design"]
  G{"⑤ More practice<br/>needed?"}
  H["⑥ Larger systems<br/>Twitter, Uber…"]

  A --> B --> C --> D
  D -->|Yes| E --> F
  D -->|No| F
  F --> G
  G -->|Yes, pick another| C
  G -->|Ready| H

How to read the diagram: Loop ② → ③ → ④ for each new problem. When ⑤ is “ready,” move to ⑥—usually after several small/medium designs, not the first week.

Optional: OS / embedded track

Only needed for OS framework, middleware, or device interviews—not for typical backend “Design Twitter” loops.

  1. OS frameworks guide
  2. 7-day prep todo
  3. Topic posts (JNI, embedded events, glass, etc.) — listed under OS, embedded & domain prep in Section 3.

3. All posts by category

Foundations & interview prep

System design problem

Product-scale design

Technology guide

OS

embedded & domain prep

Other

4. Complete post catalog

Alphabetical index — every post with category and link.

| Post | Category | Date | |——|———-|——|

Amazon DynamoDB: Comprehensive Guide to Managed NoSQL Database Technology guide 2025-11-09
Amazon S3 Storage: Comprehensive Guide with Use Cases and Deployment Technology guide 2025-11-13
Amazon SQS: Comprehensive Guide with Use Cases and Deployment Technology guide 2025-11-13
Android OS Design Overview: IoT Device Controller OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-10-30
Apache Airflow: Comprehensive Guide to Workflow Orchestration Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Avro: Comprehensive Guide to Data Serialization Framework Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Beam: Comprehensive Guide to Unified Batch and Stream Processing Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Cassandra: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed NoSQL Database Technology guide 2025-11-30
Apache Cassandra: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed NoSQL Database Technology guide 2025-11-09
Apache Druid: Comprehensive Guide to Real-Time Analytics Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Flink: Comprehensive Guide to Stream Processing and Real-Time Analytics Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache HBase: Comprehensive Guide to NoSQL Column-Family Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Hive: Comprehensive Guide to Data Warehouse System Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Ignite: Comprehensive Guide to In-Memory Computing Platform Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Kafka: Comprehensive Guide with Use Cases and Deployment Technology guide 2025-11-13
Apache NiFi: Comprehensive Guide to Data Flow Management Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Parquet: Comprehensive Guide to Columnar Storage Format Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Phoenix: Comprehensive Guide to SQL on HBase Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Pinot: Comprehensive Guide to Real-Time OLAP Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Pulsar: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Messaging and Streaming Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Samza: Comprehensive Guide to Stream Processing Framework Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Spark: Comprehensive Guide to Big Data Processing and Analytics Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Storm: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Stream Processing Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Thrift: Comprehensive Guide to Cross-Language RPC Framework Technology guide 2025-11-29
Apache Zookeeper: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Coordination Service Technology guide 2025-11-29
Architecture OA - 5-Day Preparation Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
CAP Theorem: Comprehensive Guide to Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance Technology guide 2025-11-29
CDN (Content Delivery Network): Comprehensive Guide to Global Content Distribution Technology guide 2025-11-29
ClickHouse: Comprehensive Guide to Column-Oriented Analytics Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
Common Domain System Design Patterns - Interview Preparation Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-24
Common Non-Distributed System Design Interview Questions - Complete List Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-24
Common Technologies in System Design Interviews - Complete Comparison Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-09
Consul: Comprehensive Guide to Service Discovery and Configuration Management Technology guide 2025-11-29
Dead Letter Queue (DLQ): Comprehensive Guide with Use Cases and Implementation Technology guide 2025-11-13
Design Authentication and Fraud Detection for Roblox - System Design Interview OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-30
Design CamelCamelCamel Price Tracker - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design Client-Side Embedded Report Events System (C++) OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
Design Facebook Live Streaming with Comments - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design Instagram - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-13
Design Netflix - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design Quickset with UEI - System Design Interview OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-17
Design Roblox - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-16
Design Roblox Studio - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-16
Design Ticketmaster - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design YouTube - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Basic Online Shopping Cart - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Blob Storage System Like S3: Distributed Object Storage System design problem 2025-11-09
Design a Change Data Capture (CDC) System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Chat System (Messenger/WhatsApp) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Chess Game System with Unlimited Undo and ELO Rating - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Circular Buffer / Ring Buffer - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Configuration Service with LRU Cache - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Connection Pool - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Delayed Payment Scheduler Service - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Distributed Job Scheduler System System design problem 2025-11-03
Design a Distributed Logging System with PII Masking and Fast Queries - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-17
Design a Distributed Web Crawler Using 10,000 Nodes - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a File Storage and Sync System (Dropbox/Google Drive) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a File System or In-memory Storage - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Global Translation Service with Hybrid Mode - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Hotel Reservation System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a JNI (Java Native Interface) Bridge - OS Frameworks Interview OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-03
Design a Key-Value Store for Local System and Horizontal Scaling - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Library Management System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Like/Unlike Feature - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Local Logger - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Local OS Framework System (Non-Distributed, No Cloud) OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
Design a Matchmaking Service for Multiplayer Games - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Memory Allocator - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a News Feed System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-13
Design a Parking Lot System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Price Drop Tracker System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Producer-Consumer Queue - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Proximity Service (Yelp) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Pub/Sub System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Rate Limiter System design problem 2026-05-26
Design a Real-Time Game Leaderboard System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-13
Design a Resource Loader in a Game Engine - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Ride-Sharing Service like Uber - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-20
Design a Search Autocomplete System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a Simple Chat Application - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Smart Glass System: Voice-Controlled Memory Video Creation OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-08
Design a Smart Glasses System System design problem 2025-11-04
Design a Social Media Feed (Local / Single-User) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Social Media Feed like Twitter - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-20
Design a Task Scheduler (Single Machine) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Text Editor - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Thread Pool - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Ticket Booking System (Cinema/Events) - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a To-Do List App with Multi-User Collaboration - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-29
Design a Top K Heavy Hitter System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design a URL Shortener (Bit.ly) System design problem 2026-05-26
Design a URL Shortener - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design a Web Crawler System System design problem 2025-11-13
Design an ATM Machine / Banking System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design an Auction System - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-14
Design an Embedded Local Redis Cache System - System Design Interview OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-14
Design an Embedded Report Event System OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
Design an In-Memory Gaming Platform with Matchmaking Queue - System Design Interview System design problem 2025-11-24
Design an NDK System for Merging Multiple .so Libraries OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-09
Designing Data-Intensive Applications, 2nd Edition - Complete Breakdown Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-03
Distributed System Design Ecosystem Foundations & interview prep 2026-05-26
Distributed System Design vs Product System Design: Key Differences and Interview Approaches Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-20
Docker: Comprehensive Guide to Containerization Platform Technology guide 2025-11-29
Elasticsearch: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Search and Analytics Engine Technology guide 2025-11-29
GraphQL: Comprehensive Guide to Query Language and API Design Technology guide 2025-11-29
Hardware Design for Testing & DFT (ATE, DUT, and Silicon) OS, embedded & domain prep 2026-05-26
In-Domain Design Interview Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-03
InfluxDB: Comprehensive Guide to Time-Series Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
Kubernetes (K8s) in System Design: Common Scenarios and Use Cases - Interview Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-17
Kubernetes: Comprehensive Guide to Container Orchestration Technology guide 2025-11-29
Load Balancer: Comprehensive Guide to Traffic Distribution and High Availability Technology guide 2025-11-29
Local OS Frameworks Design Interview Questions (Non-Distributed, No Cloud) OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
Memcached: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Memory Caching Technology guide 2025-11-29
Message Queue Comparison: Log-Based vs In-Memory Queues Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-08
MongoDB: Comprehensive Guide to NoSQL Document Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
MySQL: Comprehensive Guide to Relational Database Management System Technology guide 2025-11-29
NGINX: Comprehensive Guide to Web Server and Reverse Proxy Technology guide 2025-11-29
Neo4j: Comprehensive Guide to Graph Database Technology guide 2025-11-29
OS Frameworks - Common Interview Questions OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
OS Frameworks Design Interview Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
OS Frameworks Domain Design Interview - Complete Guide with Sample Q&A OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-09
OS Frameworks Interview Preparation Checklist OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
OS Frameworks Software Engineer - Complete Preparation Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
OS Frameworks System Design Interview Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-03
OS Frameworks System Design Interview Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-03
OS Internals Study Guide for OS Frameworks Interviews OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
OS/Frameworks 10-Day Interview Drill OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
OS/Frameworks 7-Day Preparation Todo - OS/Middleware Focus OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
Performance Optimization Skills Study Guide for OS Frameworks Interviews OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
PostgreSQL: Comprehensive Guide to Advanced Relational Database Technology guide 2025-11-09
Prometheus: Comprehensive Guide to Monitoring and Metrics Collection Technology guide 2025-11-29
RabbitMQ: Comprehensive Guide to Message Queue and Event-Driven Architecture Technology guide 2025-11-29
Redis: Comprehensive Guide to In-Memory Data Structure Store Technology guide 2025-11-08
Redis: Practical Guide with Use Cases and Deployment Technology guide 2025-11-13
SQL Database Read and Write Consistency: A Deep Dive Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-08
SQL vs NoSQL Database Comparison: A Comprehensive Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-08
Senior Backend Engineer - Common System Design Questions Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-04
Senior Software Engineer - Android Native System Design Questions OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
Senior Software Engineer - Common System Design Interview Questions Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-04
Smart Glass: Voice-Controlled Video Generation System Design OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-09
SpecSWE System Design Interview Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-03
System Design Interview Framework: A Structured Approach Foundations & interview prep 2025-10-04
System Design Interview Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-03
System Design Interview: Technologies, Options, and Trade-offs - Complete Reference Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-17
System Design Learning Path & Technology Index Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-30
System Design LeetCode - Practice Platforms and Problems Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-13
System Design Overview: Cloud-Native Architectures Foundations & interview prep 2025-10-30
System Design Overview: Embedded Architectures Foundations & interview prep 2025-10-30
System Design References Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-03
System Design Technology List - Quick Reference Guide Foundations & interview prep 2025-11-29
System Design: Chat/Messaging Service Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: ChatGPT-Style LLM Service (Serving, Caching, Safety) Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: Client to API Gateway Connection Options Other 2025-10-04
System Design: Distributed Rate Limiter Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: GitHub (Repos, Git Storage, PRs, CI) Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: Meta Glass (Smart Glasses Platform) Product-scale design 2025-10-29
System Design: Metrics & Logging Pipeline Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: Notification/Push Service Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: Robinhood-Style Retail Trading Platform Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: Twitter (Timeline, Fanout, Search, Trends) Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: URL Shortener (bit.ly) Product-scale design 2025-10-30
System Design: YouTube (Upload, Transcode, CDN, Recommendations) Product-scale design 2025-10-30
Terraform: Comprehensive Guide to Infrastructure as Code Technology guide 2025-11-29
TimescaleDB: Comprehensive Guide to Time-Series Database Technology guide 2025-11-09
WebSocket: Comprehensive Guide to Real-Time Communication Technology guide 2025-11-29
What to Study for OS Internals - Quick Reference Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-04
What to Study for Performance Optimization - Quick Reference Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
What to Study for Security Awareness - Quick Reference Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
What to Study for Thread Safety Knowledge - Quick Reference Guide OS, embedded & domain prep 2025-11-05
etcd: Comprehensive Guide to Distributed Key-Value Store and Coordination Technology guide 2025-11-29
gRPC: Comprehensive Guide to High-Performance RPC Framework Technology guide 2025-11-29

Summary

Metric Value
Total posts 172
Categories 6
Last updated May 26, 2026

Use the Learning Path link in the top navigation to return here anytime.