System Design & Architecture
7 clusters, spanning half-life layers 0–1: Architecture styles, Scalability building blocks, Distributed-systems theory, Resilience patterns, Communication patterns, Design method, Classic problems.
Clusters
Section titled “Clusters”Architecture styles
Where the boundaries go and what each costs transfers to every stack. The recurring mistake is treating microservices as a default rather than a…
Scalability building blocks
Layer 1 and endlessly reusable. Cache invalidation and partition-key design are the two that repay the most study.
Distributed-systems theory
Layer 0 and the deepest content in this domain. Explains behaviour in Kafka, Postgres replication, DynamoDB, Spanner and every queue you will…
Resilience patterns
Permanent. The same five patterns appear in every language’s HTTP client and every service mesh.
Communication patterns
The coupling consequences of each choice transfer everywhere. Mesh implementations churn and are Layer 3.
Design method
Layer 0 and the actual interview skill. Estimation and explicit trade-off reasoning transfer to every technical decision.
Classic problems
Practice vehicles rather than subjects. Their value is forcing the theory clusters above into a concrete shape.