May 21, 2024
Distributed System Design Interviews
If you're interviewing for engineering roles at software companies, you'll probably face distributed system design questions. Based on what we've seen in our community, these questions tend to fall into six categories:
Category 1: High throughput systems
- Notification systems
- Rate limiters
- TopK problems
- Key-value stores
- Typeahead suggestions
- Distributed message queues
Category 2: High volume systems
- Cloud file systems (like Google Drive or Dropbox)
- Distributed log collection
- Ads logging systems
- Web crawlers
Category 3: Collaboration applications
- Multi-user chat systems
- News feeds
- Real-time comments on news feeds
- Like/unlike functionality
- Calendar apps
Category 4: Distributed transaction systems
- EBay-style auctions
- Inventory management
- Ticket booking systems (like Ticketmaster)
- Payment systems (like Uber)
Category 5: Content sharing applications
- Video platforms (like YouTube)
- Photo storage (like Google Photos)
- URL shorteners (like TinyURL)
Category 6: Location-based applications
- Ride-sharing apps (like Uber)
- Local search and review apps (like Yelp)
We've run over 70 mock system design interviews at our community events. You can check out the notes from these sessions here and watch some of the recordings on our YouTube channel.
We've also helped hundreds of students one-on-one with design questions, coding interviews, behavioral questions, and career advice. If you want a coach for your next interview or want to grow your career, reach out to us on WeChat or LinkedIn.