WHAT IS IT?
System Design 101 is an open source repository that explains system design concepts through visual diagrams and short, focused explanations. Instead of drowning the reader in walls of text, it breaks down complex topics (APIs, databases, scalability, cloud) into digestible schematics. It has become a go-to reference for prepping system design interviews or simply getting the fundamentals straight.
WHY IS IT INTERESTING?
- Fully visual: Every concept comes with a clear diagram. You grasp a load balancer, a message queue or a caching pattern in seconds instead of reading three articles.
- Massive coverage: APIs (REST, GraphQL, gRPC), HTTP protocols, databases, caching, cloud, DevOps/CI-CD, security, architecture patterns, ML… the scope is wide.
- Real-world case studies: Architectures from Netflix, Twitter, Uber, Discord and other giants, broken down to show how theory applies in production.
- Markdown, readable anywhere: All content lives in a versioned README. No paywall for the essentials, accessible directly on GitHub.
- Efficient interview prep: The topic-by-topic layout makes it a fast revision tool, perfect for refreshing a specific subject the night before an interview.
USE CASES
- Review system design fundamentals before a technical interview
- Quickly understand a specific concept (CDN, sharding, consistent hashing…) with a diagram
- Use as teaching material to onboard a team on distributed architecture notions
- Draw inspiration from real architectures of large platforms for your own design choices