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Grokking the

System Design Interview

One-stop portal for all your system design interview needs.
System Design Fundamentals
System Design Fundamentals
System Design Questions
System Design Questions
System Design Patterns
System Design Patterns
System Design Tradeoffs
System Design Tradeoffs
Microservices Design Patterns
Microservices Design Patterns

Preferred by developers at leading tech companies such as

microsoft
meta
amazon
google
apple
netflix

Popular courses

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Grokking System Design Fundamentals
Learn the fundamental principles of designing scalable and robust systems in our "System Design Mastery" course. Explore key concepts such as caching, load balancing, and data partitioning, and gain the practical insights necessary to excel in system design interviews and enhance the performance of distributed systems.
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Grokking the System Design Interview
"Grokking the System Design Interview" is a comprehensive course crafted by hiring managers from leading tech companies to help software engineers excel in system design interviews. This course offers a carefully curated collection of questions and strategies, equipping you with the skills needed to confidently tackle any system design challenge.
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Grokking the Advanced System Design Interview
"Grokking the Advanced System Design Interview" is a specialized course for senior engineers, concentrating on architectural analysis of well-known distributed systems and critical design patterns. Develop a deep understanding of advanced system design concepts to excel in interviews, secure senior roles, and command higher salaries.
Path to System Design Success
URL Shortening Service like TinyURL
URL Shortening Service like TinyURL

Involves converting long URLs into shorter, unique aliases while ensuring scalability.

Preview Lesson
Pastebin
Pastebin

Involves storing and sharing text or code snippets with unique URLs.

Instagram
Instagram

Involves creating a platform for sharing photos, videos, and social networking.

Dropbox
Dropbox

Involves creating cloud storage for file sync, sharing, and secure access.

Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger

Involves creating a real-time messaging platform for text, voice, and video communication.

Twitter
Twitter

Involves creating a platform for short text updates, social interaction, and real-time information sharing.

Youtube or Netflix
Youtube or Netflix

Involves building a platform for streaming video with scalable delivery and recommendations.

Typeahead Suggestion
Typeahead Suggestion

Involves predicting and displaying user queries in real-time.

API Rate Limiter
API Rate Limiter

Involves controlling the number of requests a user can make to an API within a specified time frame.

Twitter Search
Twitter Search

Involves indexing and retrieving tweets based on keywords and relevance.

Web Crawler
Web Crawler

Involves creating a system that systematically browses the web to index and gather data.

Facebook’s Newsfeed
Facebook’s Newsfeed

Involves displaying personalized content based on user interactions.

Yelp or Nearby Friends
Yelp or Nearby Friends

Involves user reviews and local business discovery & showing nearby locations in real-time.

Uber backend
Uber backend

Designing Uber's backend involves real-time ride matching and payment processing.

Ticketmaster
Ticketmaster

Involves building a platform for event ticket sales, distribution, and real-time inventory management.

Load Balancing
Load Balancing

Involves distributing incoming network traffic across multiple servers to ensure reliability and optimal performance.

API Gateway
API Gateway

Involves manages and routes API requests, providing a unified entry point, security, and request handling.

Domain Name System (DNS)
Domain Name System (DNS)

It translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses, enabling internet navigation.

Caching
Caching

Involves storing frequently accessed data temporarily to speed up retrieval and reduce load on the main data source.

CDN
CDN

It distributes content globally to reduce latency and improve load times.

Data Partitioning
Data Partitioning

It divides a database into smaller pieces to improve performance and scalability.

Proxies
Proxies

It acts as intermediaries between clients and servers to enhance security, privacy, and performance.

Redundancy and Replication
Redundancy and Replication

Involves duplicating critical system components to ensure reliability and availability in case of failures.

CAP & PACELC Theorems
CAP & PACELC Theorems

It balances availability vs consistency during partitions and latency vs consistency otherwise.

Databases (SQL vs. NoSQL)
Databases (SQL vs. NoSQL)

Databases store, organize, and manage data for efficient retrieval and manipulation.

Indexes
Indexes

Indexes optimize data retrieval speed by creating quick access paths to specific data in a database.

Bloom Filters
Bloom Filters

Bloom Filters are space-efficient data structures used to test whether an element is likely in a set, with possible false positives.

Quorum
Quorum

Quorum is the minimum number of nodes required to agree on a decision in a distributed system to ensure consistency.

Heartbeat
Heartbeat

Heartbeats are regular signals sent between system components to monitor their status and ensure they are operational.

Checksum
Checksum

A checksum is a calculated value used to verify the integrity of data by detecting errors or corruption during transmission or storage.

Leader and Follower
Leader and Follower

Leader and Follower is a replication model where the leader handles writes, and followers replicate data for consistency.

Distributed Messaging System
Distributed Messaging System

A Distributed Messaging System enables reliable communication between applications via message passing.

Distributed File System
Distributed File System

A Distributed File System allows access to files across multiple servers, ensuring scalability and fault tolerance.

Gossip Protocol
Gossip Protocol

Gossip Protocol is a communication method where nodes in a network spread information randomly to ensure eventual consistency.

Split Brain
Split Brain

"Split Brain" occurs when network partitions cause multiple nodes to act as leaders, leading to conflicts.

Vector Clocks
Vector Clocks

Vector Clocks track causal relationships between events in distributed systems to ensure consistency.

Merkle Trees
Merkle Trees

Merkle Trees are data structures that verify large data sets' integrity by organizing hashes into a hierarchical tree.

Insights from Successful Tech Professionals

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Arijeet
Software Engineer
Just completed the “Grokking the System Design Interview”. It's amazing and super informative. Have come across very few courses that are as good as this!
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Steven Zhang
Software Engineer
Just wanted to say thanks for your Grokking the System Design Interview resource (https://lnkd.in/g4Wii9r7) - it helped me immensely when I was interviewing from Tableau (very little system design exp) and helped me land 18 FAANG+ jobs!
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Eric
Software Engineer
I've completed my first pass of "Grokking the System Design Interview" and I can say this was an excellent use of money and time. I've grown as a developer and now know the secrets of how to build these really giant internet systems.
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Vivien Ruska
Software Engineer
Hey, I wasn't looking for interview materials but in general I wanted to learn about system design, and I bumped into 'Grokking the System Design Interview' on designgurus.io - it also walks you through popular apps like Instagram, Twitter, etc.
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Brandon Lyons
Software Engineer
The famous "Grokking the System Design Interview course" on http://designgurus.io is amazing. I used this for my MSFT interviews and I was told I nailed it.
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Nathan Thomas
Software Engineer
My newest course recommendation for all of you is to check out Grokking the System Design Interview on designgurus.io. I'm working through it this month, and I'd highly recommend it.
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MO JAFRI
Software Engineer
The courses which have "grokking" before them, are exceptionally well put together! These courses magically condense 3 years of CS in short bite-size courses and lectures (I have tried System Design, OODI, and Coding patterns). The Grokking courses are godsent, to be honest.
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ABHISHEK GUPTA
Software Engineer
My offer from the top tech company would not have been possible without this course. Many thanks!!
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KAUSHIK JONNADULA
Software Engineer
Thanks for a great resource! You guys are a lifesaver. I struggled a lot in design interviews, and this course gave me an organized process to handle a design problem. Please keep adding more questions.
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AHMET HANIF
Software Engineer
Whoever put this together, you folks are life savers. Thank you :)

Explore System Design Courses

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Grokking System Design Fundamentals
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Grokking the System Design Interview
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Grokking the Advanced System Design Interview
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Grokking Microservices Design Patterns
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Grokking the Object Oriented Design Interview
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Grokking Design Patterns for Engineers and Managers

Frequently Ask Questions

A system design interview is a common part of the technical hiring process at top tech companies like FAANG. It evaluates your ability to design scalable, efficient, and robust systems such as web apps, APIs, or distributed services. Candidates are expected to demonstrate their understanding of architecture, databases, caching, load balancing, and trade-offs.
To prepare for a system design interview, study fundamental design patterns, scalability principles, and real-world systems. Use structured frameworks to approach problems, and practice designing systems like URL shorteners, social media feeds, or file storage. Enrolling in a focused course like “Grokking the System Design Interview” can provide real questions, expert guidance, and a step-by-step approach.
Grokking the System Design Interview is a comprehensive online course created by FAANG hiring managers. It teaches you how to approach system design problems with reusable patterns, real-world examples, and expert-reviewed solutions. It's one of the most popular resources for mastering the system design interview.
The course is ideal for software engineers, backend developers, SDE-II/SDE-III candidates, and anyone preparing for technical interviews at companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, or Microsoft. It’s especially useful for those with 2+ years of experience aiming to level up.
Yes, the course includes lessons on Microservices Design Patterns, Cloud Design Patterns, and trade-offs in distributed systems. It covers modern architectures used in real-world applications.
Absolutely. The course starts with basic design principles and gradually builds up to advanced topics. It’s structured to guide both beginners and experienced engineers step-by-step through system design interviews.
Most learners complete the course in 3 to 6 weeks, depending on their pace and prior experience. It includes over 25+ in-depth system design problems with detailed walkthroughs.
Yes. It’s widely recommended by engineers who’ve received offers from FAANG and other top-tier companies. The structured approach, real-world examples, and depth of content make it a top-rated resource for interview preparation.
Practice by walking through real interview scenarios. Use a whiteboard or notepad to structure your thoughts, outline components, and justify trade-offs. Courses like “Grokking the System Design Interview” offer curated problems and frameworks to simulate real interview conditions.
No, most system design interviews focus on architecture, scalability, and trade-offs rather than actual code. However, you should be able to discuss APIs, data models, and flow diagrams clearly.
A good answer covers: Requirement clarification, High-level architecture, Component breakdown, Scalability and fault tolerance, and Trade-offs and justifications. The ability to communicate clearly and think aloud is crucial.
Yes, once you enroll, you get lifetime access to all course materials and updates. You can learn at your own pace and revisit topics anytime.
Please refer to the website’s purchase or refund policy section. Generally, most premium courses offer refunds within a certain period if you’re not satisfied.
Yes. Many candidates have successfully landed offers at companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Microsoft after taking the course. The problems and patterns are aligned with the expectations of top-tier tech interviews.

Recommended Blogs

Design Gurus' Blog - Expert Tips for Interviews
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Arslan Ahmad
25 Fundamental System Design Concepts Engineers Must Know Before the Interview
Preparing for a system design interview? Learn 25 fundamental system design concepts – from caching and load balancing to the CAP theorem – and get the insights you need to ace your interview.
One-Stop Portal For System Design Interviews.
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