System Design Quick Links

Books

• System Design Interview (Vol. 1 & 2) by Alex Xu: Amazon Vol. 1 | Amazon Vol. 2 – Structured guide for interviews; pair with AI for practice.

• Designing Data-Intensive Applications by Martin Kleppmann: Amazon – Deep dive into distributed systems and scalability.

• Head First Design Patterns: Amazon – Beginner-friendly for Low-Level Design (LLD) patterns.

YouTube Channels & Playlists

• Gaurav Sen (gkcs_): Channel | System Design Playlist – Excellent for HLD basics and concepts.

• CodeKarle: Channel | System Design Playlist – Step-by-step system design guides.

• Piyush Garg: Channel | System Design Playlist – Backend-focused ideas and scaling.

• Shreyansh Jain (Concept && Coding): Channel | HLD Playlist | LLD Playlist – Beginner LLD/HLD from basics.

• Jordan Has No Life: Channel | Systems Design 2.0 Playlist – Comprehensive deep dives.

• Arpit Bhayani: YouTube Channel – Check for playlists; full cohorts at System Design Masterclass.

Websites, Blogs & Repos

• Hello Interview: System Design Guide – Free dashboard with structured practice.

• System Design Primer (GitHub by donnemartin): Repo – Ideal starter for freshers.

• Shivam Bhadani's Blog: System Design for Beginners – One-stop intro article.

• Karan Pratap Singh's Complete Course: GitHub Repo | Website – Free/open-source guide.

• Netflix Engineering Blog: Blog – Real-world scaling stories.

• Uber Engineering Blog: Blog – Practical distributed systems insights.

Tools & Practical Advice

• System Design Simulator by @VishwasLatiyan: Tool – Free interactive simulator for architectures.

• Sudocode for LLD: YouTube Channel | LLD Primer Playlist – Hands-on LLD tutorials.

• The Accidental CTO GitHub Guide: Repo – Real-world scaling handbook.

• takeUforward (Striver) for LLD: YouTube Channel | LLD Resources – Structured LLD roadmap.

• striver (takeUforward) for System Design: System Design Course – Includes LLD/HLD in TUF+.

Pro Tip: Start with one source (e.g., Alex Xu's books + Gaurav Sen videos), then build projects. Practice via mocks on Hello Interview. Consensus: Hands-on > passive reading!