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System Design
System Design Roadmap
A comprehensive 13-week learning path to master system design concepts, from fundamentals to advanced distributed systems.
Why Learn System Design?
System Design is a critical skill for building large-scale applications and services. Here's why you should follow this roadmap:
- Essential for designing scalable and reliable applications
- Critical for senior and architect-level engineering roles
- Key component of technical interviews at top tech companies
- Helps understand trade-offs in complex distributed systems
- Enables you to make informed architectural decisions
Learning Roadmap
Follow this structured 13-week roadmap to master system design concepts from fundamentals to advanced topics. Click on any topic to view detailed explanations.
Click on a topic to expand its detailed explanation
Phase 1: Foundations
Week 1-2
Basics of scalability, availability, and reliability
Basic Concepts
Study Resources
Phase 2: Core Components
Week 3-5
Learn how real systems work
Database Design
Caching
Load Balancing
Messaging Systems
Data Storage & File Systems
Phase 3: Design Patterns & Principles
Week 6-7
Learn architectural patterns for scalable systems
Architecture Patterns
Phase 4: Design Real-world Systems
Week 8-10
Apply knowledge to practical system designs
Pick and design
Use these while designing
Phase 5: Advanced Topics
Week 11-13
Master complex distributed systems concepts
Advanced Concepts
Learning Resources
Grokking the System Design Interview
Designing Data-Intensive Applications – Martin Kleppmann (book)
Bonus Tips
Consistency is key: Spend 1–1.5 hours a day.
Mock interviews: Practice with peers or online platforms.
Draw architecture diagrams in every problem.
Keep a Notion doc or Google Doc for your designs and notes.