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System Design Interview - An Insider's Guide (Volume 1)

System design interviews are the most difficult to tackle of all technical interview questions. This book is Volume 1 of the System Design Interview - An insider’s guide series that provides a reliable strategy and knowledge base for approaching a broad range of system design questions. This book provides a step-by-step framework for how to tackle a system design question. It includes many real-world examples to illustrate the systematic approach, with detailed steps that you can follow.

What’s inside?
- An insider’s take on what interviewers really look for and why.
- A 4-step framework for solving any system design interview question.
- 16 real system design interview questions with detailed solutions.
- 188 diagrams to visually explain how different systems work.

Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: Scale From Zero To Millions Of Users
Chapter 2: Back-of-the-envelope Estimation
Chapter 3: A Framework For System Design Interviews
Chapter 4: Design A Rate Limiter
Chapter 5: Design Consistent Hashing
Chapter 6: Design A Key-value Store
Chapter 7: Design A Unique Id Generator In Distributed Systems
Chapter 8: Design A Url Shortener
Chapter 9: Design A Web Crawler
Chapter 10: Design A Notification System
Chapter 11: Design A News Feed System
Chapter 12: Design A Chat System
Chapter 13: Design A Search Autocomplete System
Chapter 14: Design Youtube
Chapter 15: Design Google Drive
Chapter 16: The Learning Continues

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08CMF2CQF
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (June 12, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8664653403
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.73 x 9 inches
Reviewer: Marcel Laurent
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Fantastic guide on System Design
Review: System Design Interview—An Insider’s Guide is a great resource for anyone looking to prepare for system design interviews. The book is well-structured, easy to follow, and provides a solid foundation for understanding key system design concepts. I especially appreciated how Alex Xu breaks down complex topics into manageable chunks, making it accessible for both beginners and those with some experience.What stands out is the step-by-step approach to solving system design problems. The book explains not only how to get to the right answer but also the reasoning behind the decisions, which are crucial during real interviews. The real-world examples and diagrams are incredibly helpful in visualizing the concepts, especially if you’re someone who learns best by seeing things laid out.While the book is mostly geared towards those newer to system design, it still has value for more experienced engineers. That said, there are a few areas where the content could go deeper, such as in security or more advanced topics like feed ranking. Some chapters might feel a bit light if you’re already familiar with certain concepts.That being said, I would definitely recommend this book if you’re preparing for system design interviews. It’s clear, practical, and gives you the tools to tackle even tough design questions with confidence.

Reviewer: M Carmen Trevino
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Top-notch content, but not sufficient as sole resource. I'll provide some more.
Review: The book is pretty good. It’s easy to read. There are lots of design diagrams. If you are a visual person, you will love the book. It helped me pass the system design round at FANG.I read the book twice and take notes. I read all the reference materials mentioned in the book. Reading those extra materials help me a lot with topics I’m not familiar with.Highlights:+ The book has a good set of questions.+ Lots of diagrams and clear explanation.+ You will learn something new by reading the book regardless of your experience.Drawbacks:- I wish the reference links are footnotes instead of being at the end of chapters. That way, it’s more accessible.- Some topics are not talked about too much like security and stream processing.- It’s tailored towards junior and semi-senior engineers. Some chapters are not deep enough. For example, I wish the author would talk more about feed ranking and caching in the designing news feed chapter.Overall, it’s a masterpiece in system design books. However, no book can cover everything in system design. No one knows every system. Here are some of my other recommendations:-- designing data-intensive applications. Highly recommended.-- system design primer github repo. Highly recommended free resource.-- Leetcode discussion forum about system designs.-- Grokking the system interview course. This is an ok resource but not very deep.-- Various youtube channels. I like channels like Tushar Roy, System Design Interview, Success in Tech, etc. There are a lot more but I found them most useful for senior engineer positions.-- Various tech blogs: Facebook, Netflix, Uber, AirBnb, etc. Those tech blogs are extremely valuable to help us understand real-life systems.-- highscalability website. The website contains lots of real world systems.-- InfoQ youtube channel. Many tech companies talk about how they scale their systems at infoQ. I find sometimes it’s quite hard to find useful videos on google but when I narrow down it to a specific channel, it’s much easier to find. For example, I found a lot of useful tech talks about uber there. It’s invaluable when I interviewed there.

Reviewer: Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Solid
Review: So, I got my hands on "System Design Interview – An insider's guide" by Alex Xu, and I've got to say, it's a pretty solid book if you're gearing up for a tech interview, especially the tricky system design stuff.What I really liked is how Alex breaks everything down. Instead of making you wade through a sea of jargon, he walks you through each concept, bit by bit. It's like he's right there, guiding you, which is really cool for beginners like me. Plus, there's a bunch of real-world examples, so it's not just theory—you actually see how it works in practice.The best part? Alex doesn't just teach you system design; he gets you into the mind of the interviewer. It's not just about getting the right answers; it's about understanding what the interviewer is looking for. Trust me, that stuff is gold!But hey, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. If you're already a pro at system design, you might find this book a bit on the simpler side. Don't get me wrong, the basics are covered really well, but I wished there was more for the advanced folks.Also, I had a bit of a tough time with some of the technical lingo. Even though Alex tries to make things simple, some parts still felt like a mouthful. And, more different problem scenarios would've been great to see.All in all, I'd definitely recommend "System Design Interview – An insider's guide" if you're starting out or kinda in the middle in system design. It's an easy-to-follow guide that'll help you get through those intimidating interviews. For the pros, maybe look for something more advanced, but as a refresher, it works well.

Reviewer: Komal
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: "System Design Interview – An Insider's Guide" is an absolute must-read for anyone preparing for technical interviews, especially if you’re aiming for a role that involves system design. As someone who’s been through a few system design interviews, I found this book to be incredibly insightful and practical.The author does an excellent job of breaking down complex system design concepts into manageable sections. The step-by-step approach helps you understand how to approach design problems, from gathering requirements to making trade-offs and optimizing your design. Each chapter is packed with real-world examples that illustrate key principles, making it easier to grasp and apply them during an interview.What I particularly appreciated was the inclusion of sample interview scenarios and the detailed thought process behind each design. It’s not just about getting the right answer but about understanding the reasoning and methodology, which is crucial during actual interviews.Whether you're a beginner looking to understand the basics of system design or an experienced engineer aiming to refine your skills, this book is a valuable resource. It’s well-written, easy to follow, and provides a solid foundation for tackling system design interviews with confidence. Highly recommend!"

Reviewer: Mario Vitale
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: great insight, good advices, a must to have in your library

Reviewer: Ali Ismail
Rating: 2.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It came as surprising while I started to study the book and then found most of the diagrams are in black and white!! It's not cheap book, it's €40I found out when I took a look at an online version of the book

Reviewer: ciaodreaming
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: It cover some system design and useful algorithm! Recommend if you havn’t heard of these concept.Check the table of content before buying it!

Reviewer: Nambi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: - Explains the design of most commonly used systems in the industry with great clarity- Analysing all possible solutions to a problem, listing the pros and cons of each approach, thus helping in making more informed decisions