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System Design — Zero to Expert

From how a single HTTP request travels across the internet to designing systems that serve billions of users — scalability, databases, distributed systems, and real system-design case studies.

+540 XP34h (430m total)28 lessons1 enrolled

What you'll learn

  • Scalability fundamentals
  • Database design at scale
  • Caching strategies
  • Distributed systems concepts
  • Designing real-world systems
  • Trade-off analysis

Curriculum6 modules, 28 lessons

What System Design Actually Tests (Interviews and Real Work)FREE10mClient-Server Basics — HTTP, DNS, and How a Request TravelsFREE15m
Vertical vs Horizontal Scaling12m
Exercise — Estimate the Scale of a System from Requirements20m
Load Balancers — Algorithms and Failure Modes15m
Caching Strategies — Where, What, and When to Cache15m
Content Delivery Networks12m
API Design — REST, GraphQL, and gRPC Trade-offs15m
Rate Limiting — Algorithms and Real Implementations15m
SQL vs NoSQL — Choosing the Right Database15m
Database Indexing — How Queries Actually Get Fast15m
Replication — Leader-Follower and Multi-Leader12m
Sharding — Splitting Data Across Machines15m
The CAP Theorem and What It Actually Constrains12m
Consistency Models — Strong, Eventual, and Everything Between15m
Message Queues and Async Processing15m
Consensus — How Distributed Systems Agree on Anything15m
Idempotency and Exactly-Once Processing (Mostly a Myth)12m
Exercise — Design a Rate Limiter for a Multi-Region API20m
Designing a URL Shortener18m
Designing a Chat Application18m
Designing a News Feed / Timeline18m
Designing a Distributed Cache18m
Designing a Ride-Sharing / Location System18m
Microservices vs Monoliths — the Real Trade-offs15m
Observability — Logging, Metrics, Tracing at Scale15m
Chaos Engineering and Designing for Failure15m
Checkpoint — System Design Comprehensive Review20m