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System Design Mastery Roadmap(2025 Edition)

Phase 1: Fundamentals

Beginner Level

Build a strong foundation in computer science and system basics

Computer Science Basics

  1. 1. Data Structures & Algorithms → Arrays, Linked Lists, Trees, Graphs, Sorting, Searching
  2. 2. Complexity Analysis → Big O, Big Θ, Big Ω notations and analysis
  3. 3. Algorithm Design → Divide & Conquer, Dynamic Programming, Greedy algorithms
  4. 4. Practice: Solve 150+ LeetCode problems focusing on system design patterns

Networking Basics

  1. 1. OSI Model → 7-layer model, TCP vs UDP protocols
  2. 2. HTTP/HTTPS → REST basics, status codes, headers, caching
  3. 3. DNS, CDN → Domain resolution, content delivery networks
  4. 4. Load Balancers → Round-robin, weighted, least connections algorithms

Operating Systems

  1. 1. Process vs Thread → Concurrency, parallelism, synchronization
  2. 2. CPU Scheduling → FIFO, Round Robin, Priority scheduling
  3. 3. Memory Management → Virtual memory, paging, segmentation
  4. 4. File Systems → NTFS, ext4, distributed file systems basics

Databases (Basics)

  1. 1. Relational Databases → SQL, normalization, ACID properties
  2. 2. NoSQL Introduction → Document, Key-Value, Columnar, Graph databases
  3. 3. Database Design → ER diagrams, schema design, indexing basics
  4. 4. Practice: Design schemas for e-commerce, social media applications
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 2: Core System Design

Intermediate Level

Learn to design scalable, reliable, and maintainable systems

System Design Basics

  1. 1. Latency vs Throughput → Performance metrics, optimization trade-offs
  2. 2. Vertical vs Horizontal Scaling → Scale-up vs scale-out strategies
  3. 3. Load Balancing & Caching → Distribution strategies, cache patterns
  4. 4. Stateless vs Stateful → Session management, scalability implications

Databases (Advanced)

  1. 1. Indexing → B-trees, hash indexes, composite indexes, query optimization
  2. 2. Sharding → Horizontal partitioning, shard keys, rebalancing
  3. 3. Replication → Master-slave, master-master, eventual consistency
  4. 4. CAP Theorem → Consistency, Availability, Partition tolerance trade-offs

APIs & Communication

  1. 1. REST APIs → HTTP methods, status codes, resource design
  2. 2. GraphQL → Schema design, resolvers, N+1 problem solutions
  3. 3. gRPC → Protocol Buffers, streaming, service mesh integration
  4. 4. Message Queues → Kafka, RabbitMQ, SQS, pub/sub patterns

Storage Systems

  1. 1. Blob Storage → S3, GCS, Azure Blob, object storage patterns
  2. 2. File Systems → Distributed file systems, HDFS, Ceph
  3. 3. Data Warehousing → OLTP vs OLAP, ETL processes, data lakes
  4. 4. Backup & Recovery → Point-in-time recovery, disaster recovery planning
Phase 2
Phase 3
Phase 3: Distributed Systems & Scalability

Advanced Level

Dive deep into large-scale distributed systems architecture

Scalability & Reliability

  1. 1. Replication → Synchronous vs asynchronous, conflict resolution
  2. 2. Partitioning → Range-based, hash-based, directory-based partitioning
  3. 3. Leader Election → Raft, Paxos, ZooKeeper coordination
  4. 4. Consistent Hashing → Ring topology, virtual nodes, load distribution

Caching Strategies

  1. 1. Client-side Caching → Browser cache, mobile app caching
  2. 2. CDN → Geographic distribution, edge computing, cache invalidation
  3. 3. Reverse Proxy → Varnish, Nginx, load balancing with caching
  4. 4. Cache Patterns → Write-through, write-around, write-back strategies

Search & Indexing

  1. 1. Inverted Index → Full-text search, tokenization, scoring algorithms
  2. 2. Elasticsearch → Document storage, aggregations, cluster management
  3. 3. Ranking Algorithms → TF-IDF, PageRank, machine learning ranking
  4. 4. Query Optimization → Index selection, query planning, performance tuning

Observability

  1. 1. Logging → ELK stack, Fluentd, structured logging, log aggregation
  2. 2. Monitoring → Prometheus, Grafana, metrics collection, alerting
  3. 3. Distributed Tracing → Jaeger, OpenTelemetry, span correlation
  4. 4. APM → Application performance monitoring, error tracking, profiling
Phase 3
Phase 4
Phase 4: Industry-Level Mastery

Advanced Level

Build production-grade, FAANG-scale system design expertise

High-Performance Architectures

  1. 1. Microservices → Service decomposition, API gateways, service mesh
  2. 2. Event-driven Architecture → Event sourcing, CQRS, saga patterns
  3. 3. Serverless → AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, cold starts, scaling
  4. 4. Monolith vs Microservices → Migration strategies, trade-offs analysis

Cloud & DevOps

  1. 1. Kubernetes → Orchestration, pods, services, ingress, autoscaling
  2. 2. Docker → Containerization, multi-stage builds, registry management
  3. 3. Service Mesh → Istio, Linkerd, traffic management, security policies
  4. 4. Infrastructure as Code → Terraform, CloudFormation, Ansible automation

Security in System Design

  1. 1. Authentication & Authorization → OAuth2, JWT, OpenID Connect, RBAC
  2. 2. Encryption → TLS, HTTPS, encryption at rest vs in transit
  3. 3. API Security → Rate limiting, API keys, throttling, DDoS protection
  4. 4. Security Patterns → Zero-trust architecture, defense in depth
Phase 4
Phase 5
Phase 5: Case Studies & Real-World Systems

Expert Level

Master FAANG-style system design through real-world examples

Social Media Systems

  1. 1. Twitter Feed → Timeline generation, fan-out strategies, caching layers
  2. 2. Instagram → Image storage, CDN optimization, recommendation algorithms
  3. 3. LinkedIn → Professional networking, graph databases, search indexing
  4. 4. TikTok → Video processing, real-time recommendations, global distribution

Media & Content Systems

  1. 1. YouTube → Video transcoding, storage optimization, global CDN
  2. 2. Netflix → Content recommendation, A/B testing, adaptive streaming
  3. 3. Spotify → Music streaming, playlist algorithms, real-time analytics
  4. 4. Zoom → Real-time video, WebRTC, load balancing, quality adaptation

E-commerce & Marketplace

  1. 1. Amazon → Product catalog, inventory management, order processing
  2. 2. Uber → Real-time matching, location services, pricing algorithms
  3. 3. Airbnb → Search & filtering, booking system, payment processing
  4. 4. DoorDash → Restaurant management, delivery optimization, real-time tracking

Communication Systems

  1. 1. WhatsApp → Message delivery, end-to-end encryption, presence system
  2. 2. Slack → Real-time messaging, file sharing, notification system
  3. 3. Discord → Voice chat, gaming integration, server management
  4. 4. Email System → SMTP, spam filtering, attachment handling, scalability
Phase 5
Phase 6
Phase 6: Continuous Growth

Expert Level

Keep updated with latest trends, research, and emerging technologies

Research Papers & Innovation

  1. 1. Google Papers → Spanner, MapReduce, Bigtable, Borg distributed systems
  2. 2. Amazon Papers → DynamoDB, Aurora, S3 architecture and design decisions
  3. 3. Facebook Papers → TAO, Cassandra, React architecture patterns
  4. 4. Microsoft Papers → Orleans, Service Fabric, distributed computing research

Emerging Technologies

  1. 1. Edge Computing → 5G networks, IoT systems, latency optimization
  2. 2. Machine Learning Systems → MLOps, model serving, A/B testing for ML
  3. 3. Blockchain → Distributed ledgers, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts
  4. 4. Quantum Computing → Future implications for distributed systems

Interview Preparation

  1. 1. Mock Interviews → Practice 45-60 minute system design sessions
  2. 2. Whiteboard Skills → Clear communication, structured thinking, trade-offs
  3. 3. Company-specific → Google, Meta, Amazon, Netflix interview formats
  4. 4. Behavioral Questions → Leadership principles, problem-solving approach

Community & Learning

  1. 1. Tech Blogs → High Scalability, Engineering blogs of major companies
  2. 2. Conferences → QCon, Strange Loop, Velocity, distributed systems conferences
  3. 3. Open Source → Contribute to distributed systems projects, Kubernetes
  4. 4. Mentorship → Share knowledge, teach others, build engineering community

🏆 Final Tips to Become Industry-Ready System Design Engineer

Congratulations! You've completed the System design Engineer Mastery Roadmap and are ready to design scalable, robust systems.