38 ms·

System Design Interview Cheatsheet

175 points by jsfatigue 10y ago

srrm_lwn 10y ago
More links here - https://github.com/checkcheckzz/system-design-interview https://github.com/checkcheckzz/system-design-interview
- ncr100 10y ago
  Looking also for a Random System Design Generator with buzzwords and diagrams, for entertainment.
  - Erwin 10y ago
    You can join the "Agile Release Train" right here: http://www.scaledagileframework.com/ http://www.scaledagileframework.com/ -- all the "lead-agile leaders" are on it, and they're taking off on the "architectural runway", as soon as its "value stream" has reached the right "cadence".
coolmints 10y ago
Great list! Would love to see some example design questions worked out using this approach.
bottled_poe 10y ago
In my opinion, ability to describe and define interfaces (i.e. how different components interact) is mandatory.
- joshvm 10y ago
  I was asked an interface question in a recent Big 4 interview, not a system design one (even though I was told one interview would explicitly be system design). Though perhaps it depends on your experience, as a fairly recent graduate, if I was asked how to design a big web service I would be answering by rote so it wouldn't be much of an indicator.
andrewstuart2 10y ago
Wait, system design interview or just system design? Seems like a great outline for starting or evaluating any system, and includes a lot that, in my experience, can be missed by experienced architects. I'm sure that's great for interviews too, but IMO it's a good bookmark for just everyday system design, even if you've already got the job. :-)
yangdehua 10y ago
good work! thanks so much..
aryehof 10y ago
A great deal of focus on non-functional requirements, technology and infrastructure. However, there is little mention of the criteria that can affect system design, taking into account the shape of the problem under consideration and functional requirements. Driving system design will be:- - domain complexity - whether domain in business, commerce and industry, versus computer and data sciences - whether the representation of the problem is best suited to a simple procedural approach, a structure programming using functional decomposition approach, an object domain model, or a data-driven approach.
yangdehua 10y ago
no docker?
sudeepj 10y ago
This is useful to demonstrate that as a candidate I have considered the aspects mentioned in the link. It may give a completeness feel to it. Sure there are more things to add (like identifying key interfaces) as others have mentioned here. This is a nice starting point though.
Spearchucker 10y ago
It's a good list, and there are questions on there I don't usually ask but should (testing and process). That said, I like to spend time on quality objectives (portability, flexibility, integrity, interoperability, reliability, robustness and so on). Even if they're not applicable, it's good to know they're not. My quality cheat sheet is here https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Entry.aspx?id=d8c54975-bd0a-410b-b266-d73c1f45c641 https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Entry.aspx?id=d8c54975-bd0a-410... Lastly, privacy and data protection aren't mentioned at all, which is absolutely mandatory for me.
jasode 10y ago
This list is missing "costs" as an explicit tradeoff parameter. Costs are an inherent part of technical design and also with later refinements to the capacity planning in spreadsheets. For example, you want to be able to link revenue (user counts, advertising impressions, etc) to infrastructure costs. This could have ripple effects throughout architecture such as deciding between AWS S3 storage vs buying hard drives by the pallet and installing them in your own data center. This could later affect web clients such that your javascript code restricting users from uploading photos larger than 1024x768 pixels because your IT staff can't install/format raw harddrives fast enough for huge 10MP images. In other words, technical choices affect costs, but simultaneously, knowledge of costs also drives the technical choices. Technical architects can focus on factors like latency, redundancy, MTBF, bandwidth, watts, etc but they also have to have a parallel mindset of the "business spreadsheet". Your CEO/CFO is going to ask about it anyway because $$$ is a constraint on what's feasible to build. E.g. you can present System Design Option #1 that costs $5 million based on X assumptions or Option #2 that costs $10 million based on Y assumptions.
tamana 10y ago
The reference to "inheritance" seems bizarrely out of place.

175 points by jsfatigue 10y ago

More links here - https://github.com/checkcheckzz/system-design-interview https://github.com/checkcheckzz/system-design-interview

ncr100 10y ago
Looking also for a Random System Design Generator with buzzwords and diagrams, for entertainment.
- Erwin 10y ago
  You can join the "Agile Release Train" right here: http://www.scaledagileframework.com/ http://www.scaledagileframework.com/ -- all the "lead-agile leaders" are on it, and they're taking off on the "architectural runway", as soon as its "value stream" has reached the right "cadence".

coolmints 10y ago

Great list! Would love to see some example design questions worked out using this approach.

bottled_poe 10y ago

In my opinion, ability to describe and define interfaces (i.e. how different components interact) is mandatory.

joshvm 10y ago
I was asked an interface question in a recent Big 4 interview, not a system design one (even though I was told one interview would explicitly be system design). Though perhaps it depends on your experience, as a fairly recent graduate, if I was asked how to design a big web service I would be answering by rote so it wouldn't be much of an indicator.

andrewstuart2 10y ago

Wait, system design interview or just system design? Seems like a great outline for starting or evaluating any system, and includes a lot that, in my experience, can be missed by experienced architects. I'm sure that's great for interviews too, but IMO it's a good bookmark for just everyday system design, even if you've already got the job. :-)

yangdehua 10y ago

good work! thanks so much..

aryehof 10y ago

A great deal of focus on non-functional requirements, technology and infrastructure. However, there is little mention of the criteria that can affect system design, taking into account the shape of the problem under consideration and functional requirements. Driving system design will be:- - domain complexity - whether domain in business, commerce and industry, versus computer and data sciences - whether the representation of the problem is best suited to a simple procedural approach, a structure programming using functional decomposition approach, an object domain model, or a data-driven approach.

yangdehua 10y ago

no docker?

sudeepj 10y ago

This is useful to demonstrate that as a candidate I have considered the aspects mentioned in the link. It may give a completeness feel to it. Sure there are more things to add (like identifying key interfaces) as others have mentioned here. This is a nice starting point though.

Spearchucker 10y ago

It's a good list, and there are questions on there I don't usually ask but should (testing and process). That said, I like to spend time on quality objectives (portability, flexibility, integrity, interoperability, reliability, robustness and so on). Even if they're not applicable, it's good to know they're not. My quality cheat sheet is here https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Entry.aspx?id=d8c54975-bd0a-410b-b266-d73c1f45c641 https://www.wittenburg.co.uk/Entry.aspx?id=d8c54975-bd0a-410... Lastly, privacy and data protection aren't mentioned at all, which is absolutely mandatory for me.

jasode 10y ago

This list is missing "costs" as an explicit tradeoff parameter. Costs are an inherent part of technical design and also with later refinements to the capacity planning in spreadsheets. For example, you want to be able to link revenue (user counts, advertising impressions, etc) to infrastructure costs. This could have ripple effects throughout architecture such as deciding between AWS S3 storage vs buying hard drives by the pallet and installing them in your own data center. This could later affect web clients such that your javascript code restricting users from uploading photos larger than 1024x768 pixels because your IT staff can't install/format raw harddrives fast enough for huge 10MP images. In other words, technical choices affect costs, but simultaneously, knowledge of costs also drives the technical choices. Technical architects can focus on factors like latency, redundancy, MTBF, bandwidth, watts, etc but they also have to have a parallel mindset of the "business spreadsheet". Your CEO/CFO is going to ask about it anyway because $$$ is a constraint on what's feasible to build. E.g. you can present System Design Option #1 that costs $5 million based on X assumptions or Option #2 that costs $10 million based on Y assumptions.

tamana 10y ago

The reference to "inheritance" seems bizarrely out of place.