System Design Cheat Sheets
Walk into the system-design round knowing exactly what to draw. 50+ architecture diagrams — load balancers, caches, databases, queues — plus full walkthroughs of URL shortener, chat, and newsfeed systems.
📁 File Structure 37 files
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── cheatsheets/
│ ├── common-tradeoffs.md
│ ├── estimation-cheatsheet.md
│ ├── interview-framework.md
│ ├── scaling-patterns.md
├── free-sample.zip
├── fundamentals/
│ ├── api-design.md
│ ├── caching-strategies.md
│ ├── cdn-and-dns.md
│ ├── consistency-patterns.md
│ ├── databases.md
│ ├── load-balancers.md
│ ├── message-queues.md
│ ├── networking.md
│ ├── security-fundamentals.md
│ ├── storage-systems.md
├── guide/
│ ├── 01-overview.md
│ ├── 02-system-design-fundamentals.md
│ ├── 03-designing-a-url-shortener.md
├── index.html
├── interactive.html
├── real-world-systems/
│ ├── chat-application.md
│ ├── e-commerce-platform.md
│ ├── file-storage.md
│ ├── metrics-monitoring.md
│ ├── notification-system.md
│ ├── payment-system.md
│ ├── rate-limiter.md
│ ├── ride-sharing.md
│ ├── search-engine.md
│ ├── social-media-feed.md
│ ├── ticket-booking.md
│ ├── url-shortener.md
│ ├── video-streaming.md
│ ├── web-crawler.md
├── study-plan/
│ ├── system-design-study-plan.md
📖 Documentation Preview README excerpt
System Design Cheat Sheets
50+ system architecture diagrams and walkthroughs for acing system design interviews at top tech companies.
Whether you're preparing for your first L5 interview or brushing up for a staff-level loop, these cheatsheets give you the building blocks, patterns, and real-world system breakdowns you need — all in portable Markdown with ASCII architecture diagrams.
---
Table of Contents
- [Fundamentals](#fundamentals-10-topics)
- [Real-World System Designs](#real-world-system-designs-14-systems)
- [Quick-Reference Cheatsheets](#quick-reference-cheatsheets-4-sheets)
- [Study Plan](#study-plan)
---
What's Included
| Category | Count | Description |
|---|---|---|
| **Fundamentals** | 10 | Core building blocks — load balancers, caching, databases, queues, APIs, CDN/DNS, storage, networking, consistency, security |
| **Real-World Systems** | 14 | End-to-end designs — URL shortener, chat app, newsfeed, video streaming, ride-sharing, e-commerce, search engine, and more |
| **Cheatsheets** | 4 | Quick-reference cards — estimation numbers, interview framework, tradeoff matrices, scaling patterns |
| **Study Plan** | 1 | 4-week structured plan with daily topics and practice problems |
| **Total diagrams** | 50+ | ASCII architecture diagrams embedded throughout every file |
---
How to Use These Cheatsheets
For Interview Prep (recommended)
1. Start with the study plan (study-plan/system-design-study-plan.md) — it maps out a 4-week schedule
2. Learn fundamentals first — you can't design a system if you don't know what a load balancer does
3. Work through real-world systems — try designing each system on a whiteboard before reading the walkthrough
4. Keep cheatsheets handy — use the estimation and framework sheets as quick references during practice
For Quick Reference
For Mock Interviews
1. Pick a random system from real-world-systems/
2. Set a 35-minute timer
3. Design the system on paper/whiteboard without looking at the walkthrough
4. Compare your design against the cheatsheet
5. Note what you missed — those are your weak spots to study
... preview truncated, see full README in product download.
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📅 Changelog
v1.0.0 — Initial release.
Purchases include lifetime updates. Check the product page for the latest version.
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