System Design Interview Questions

System design rounds evaluate how you architect scalable, fault-tolerant systems that can handle millions of users. Unlike coding questions, these interviews focus on trade-offs, communication, and high-level thinking. Interviewers expect you to clarify requirements, estimate scale, propose architectures, and defend your choices while considering consistency, availability, and operational complexity.

The topics in this section—rate limiters, load balancing, microservices, and the CAP theorem—are among the most asked in system design interviews. Each guide breaks down real interview questions with structured approaches: defining scope, drawing diagrams, discussing algorithms, and addressing bottlenecks. Whether you are preparing for senior roles or system design for the first time, these resources give you the frameworks to think like an architect.