Thinking About Systems
ArticleFree
Learn the basic mental model for reasoning about backend systems.
Core textbook lesson in the track reading order.
Free interactive textbook
System Design Fundamentals
A structured interactive textbook that teaches the mental model behind backend architecture and then applies it to production-style systems.
Learn system architecture by watching systems work.
- 4 lessons
- 4
- 3 trackable lessons
- 3
- 1 reference
- 1
- 1 premium lesson
- 1
- 1 interactive lesson
- 1
Reading order
Lessons in this track
Load Balancing
InteractiveFreeSee how a load balancer spreads requests across healthy application instances.
Interactive textbook lesson with a CloudArch diagram to inspect.
CAP Theorem Reference
ReferenceFreeA glossary-style reference for consistency, availability, and partition tolerance.
Background/reference material. It is not required progress for the track.
Rate Limiter Practice
PracticePremiumPractice designing a service that protects downstream systems from bursty traffic.
Premium practice lab. Optional deeper practice for applying the textbook concepts.