Roadmap for System Design Interview Preparation

This roadmap is broken down into phases, each building upon the previous one. We'll move from foundational knowledge to advanced topics and then to practice, preparing you for a Google L5-level System Design interview.

Phase 1: Foundations (Understanding the Basics)

  • Goal: Grasp core concepts, terminology, and the general approach to system design. Build a strong vocabulary.
  • Duration: 1-2 Weeks (depending on your current knowledge. Don't rush this; a solid foundation is crucial.)

  1. Introduction to System Design:

    • What is System Design?
    • Why is it Important?
    • Functional vs. Non-Functional Requirements
    • Key Concepts and Terminology

  2. Basic System Design Components:

    • Clients, Servers, and Databases
    • Load Balancers and Caches
    • Basic Networking Concepts (DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP)

  3. The System Design Interview Process:

    • What to Expect & Evaluation Criteria
    • The 4-Step Framework
    • Common Mistakes to Avoid
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Phase 2: Core Concepts (Building Blocks)

  • Goal: Develop a deep understanding of the fundamental building blocks used in distributed systems.
  • Duration: 3-4 Weeks

  1. Scalability:

    • Horizontal vs. Vertical Scaling
    • Load Balancing Deep Dive
    • Stateless vs. Stateful Services

  2. Data Management:

    • Relational (SQL) vs. Non-Relational (NoSQL) Databases
    • Database Scaling: Replication and Sharding
    • Caching Strategies
    • Data Consistency & The CAP Theorem

  3. Networking:

    • DNS Deep Dive
    • TCP/IP Model and TCP vs. UDP
    • HTTP/HTTPS and RESTful APIs
    • WebSockets for Real-Time Communication

  4. System Design Patterns:

    • Microservices Architecture
    • Message Queues
    • API Gateways, Proxies, and CDNs

  5. Availability and Reliability:

    • Redundancy and Fault Tolerance
    • Monitoring and Alerting
    • Rate Limiting and Circuit Breakers
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Phase 3: Advanced Topics

  • Goal: Explore more complex concepts used in large-scale systems.
  • Duration: 2-3 Weeks
  1. Distributed System Concepts:
    • Concurrency, Consensus (Paxos/Raft), and Distributed Locking
  2. Security:
    • Authentication vs. Authorization
    • Encryption (In-Transit, At-Rest) and Key Management
    • Common Threats (SQLi, XSS, CSRF, DDoS)
  3. Specific Technologies:
    • Cloud Platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure)
    • Message Brokers: Kafka vs. RabbitMQ
  4. Big Data Processing:
    • Batch vs. Stream Processing

Phase 4: Practice and Mock Interviews

  • Goal: Apply your knowledge to real-world scenarios and refine your interview skills.
  • Duration: Ongoing (at least 2 weeks)
  1. Practice Problems:
    • Work through classic problems (URL shortener, social media feed, etc.) using the 4-step framework.
    • Focus on articulating trade-offs.
  2. Mock Interviews:
    • Practice with peers or on dedicated platforms.
    • Record yourself to analyze communication skills.
  3. Review and Iterate:
    • Analyze performance, identify weaknesses, and refine your approach.
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