SDSystem Design Studio
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Complete book · Practical system-design workflow

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Guided learning paths

Interview preparation

Practice a repeatable design flow and the trade-offs most often explored in interviews.

12 sections · 3–5 hours · 0/12 complete

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  1. 1. Practical system-design workflow· Not complete
  2. 2. The 12-question system design loop· Not complete
  3. 3. 1. Requirements: FRs, NFRs, Constraints, and Assumptions· Not complete
  4. 4. 2B. Data Modeling, Indexing, and Partitioning· Not complete
  5. 5. 3. Concurrency· Not complete
  6. 6. 4. Transactions and Consistency· Not complete
  7. 7. 5. APIs, Contracts, and Idempotency· Not complete
  8. 8. 6. Messaging and Asynchronous Work· Not complete
  9. 9. 7. Failure Handling and Resilience· Not complete
  10. 10. 8. Scale, Capacity, Performance, and Caching· Not complete
  11. 11. 13. Master System Design Review Checklist· Not complete
  12. 12. Design review outcome template· Not complete

Architecture review

Review an architecture systematically from boundaries through operability and evolution.

17 sections · 5–7 hours · 0/17 complete

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  1. 1. 1. Requirements: FRs, NFRs, Constraints, and Assumptions· Not complete
  2. 2. 2. Boundaries, State, and Data· Not complete
  3. 3. 2A. Networking and Communication· Not complete
  4. 4. 2B. Data Modeling, Indexing, and Partitioning· Not complete
  5. 5. 2C. Time, Clocks, and Ordering· Not complete
  6. 6. 4. Transactions and Consistency· Not complete
  7. 7. 5. APIs, Contracts, and Idempotency· Not complete
  8. 8. 6. Messaging and Asynchronous Work· Not complete
  9. 9. 7. Failure Handling and Resilience· Not complete
  10. 10. 8. Scale, Capacity, Performance, and Caching· Not complete
  11. 11. 9. Security· Not complete
  12. 12. 10. Observability and Reliability· Not complete
  13. 13. 11. Deployment, Migration, and Evolution· Not complete
  14. 14. 12. Cost, Simplicity, and Operability· Not complete
  15. 15. 13. Master System Design Review Checklist· Not complete
  16. 16. Architecture Decision Record — short template· Not complete
  17. 17. Design review outcome template· Not complete

Agentic systems

Design agent and LLM systems with explicit contracts, failure boundaries, and review gates.

9 sections · 3–4 hours · 0/9 complete

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  1. 1. 1. Requirements: FRs, NFRs, Constraints, and Assumptions· Not complete
  2. 2. 5. APIs, Contracts, and Idempotency· Not complete
  3. 3. 6. Messaging and Asynchronous Work· Not complete
  4. 4. 7. Failure Handling and Resilience· Not complete
  5. 5. 9. Security· Not complete
  6. 6. 10. Observability and Reliability· Not complete
  7. 7. 15. LLM and Agentic Systems· Not complete
  8. 8. 16. Spec-Driven Development for Agentic Systems· Not complete
  9. 9. 17. Agent-System Design Review Checklist· Not complete

Complete handbook · Section 4 of 31

Practical system-design workflow

Use this sequence for real technical design work. It prevents premature technology choices and keeps the design connected to requirements.

Figure 1. Design from requirements to a justified technical decision.

Diagram loads as you approach it.

Evidence: S2, S3, S24, P1

Practice after learning

Section learning lab

Build the idea, test your recall, and keep page-specific notes.

The canvas is horizontally scrollable on narrow screens. Select a node and use arrow keys or the move controls; dragging also works.

Diagram ready.

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