Introduction to System Design

by Shivam Singh

Systems design is the process of defining the architecture, product design, modules, interfaces, and data for a system to satisfy specified requirements. Systems design could be seen as the application of systems theory to product development. As a result, there is some overlap with the disciplines of systems analysis, systems architecture, and systems engineering.

Designing software systems is a vast topic, and even a software engineer having years of experience at a top software company may not claim to be an expert on system design. Companies spend not weeks but months and hire a big team of software engineers to build such systems in real life.

While this book is oriented towards Software Developers and Architects, this book can be helpful for any working in the High-Tech industry. In this, we will understand how popular products such as Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Dropbox, TinyURL, and Pastebin are designed. No prior technical knowledge is required before picking up this book.

As a Product Manager or Startup Founder, having a high-level understanding of the various technologies being used in you as well as popular products across the industry would be a handy tool in your toolkit. As a Venture Capitalist, you can better analyze the capabilities of the tech teams of the startups you are investing in as well as understand how their tech stands apart from the competition.

Even if you are not working directly in the Tech industry, everyone uses these products on a daily basis. Therefore, having an understanding of how these products work could help you improve your digital life and make use of these products in a better way.

Genres: Computer Science, Technology, Programming, Business, Software, Nonfiction, Engineering

107 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Shivam Singh is the Founder & CEO of Crack FAANG, an elite tech interview prep company. He has worked for Quant Hedge Funds like D. E. Shaw, Big Tech firms as well as High Growth Tech startups, where he has served on their hiring committee. He holds a Bachelor of Technology in Information Technology from Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad.

Reviews

[Himanshu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Credit must go where credit is due. This book is very well written with great explanations and fantastic examples. I really liked how short the chapters/sections were. It was easy to understand. Not as complicated as I thought. I would highly, highly recommended this to anyone doing system designs.Not only does this book contain basic introductory information to system design, it also has been updated with the latest research on important and interesting research topics in system design. It cites many papers published within the past years. Great as a reference, a refresher for experts, or for undergraduates.

[Brijesh Bhalodiya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because I had to prepare for my system design interviews. It explains all concepts required for system design from very scratch and also depicts approaches as to how we can start thinking of any random system design question. It also mentions what are the important factors to be considered while designing anything like scalability, availability, consistency, etc. Really loved this book. Helped me very much in preparing for System design interviews. If you want to crack any system design interview or want to design system for your app/software or startup, I would highly recommend this book.

[Shivam Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly well research and well written book! The technical depth to which the author goes is outstanding. Even after covering the topics in such comprehensive detail, the author makes the concepts very lucid and easy to understand even for a non-technical person.

I used this before going to interviews of FAANG companies and each page of this book came in handy!

I was amazed to see the underlying working of applications that I use every day like Instagram and Messenger. It is a must-read for any software developer.

I am not at all shocked that it has become a Bestseller!

[Ayushi Jain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended for the tech industry

The book is a great introduction to system design issues that are only taught in a few courses in few universities, even though they show up in computer systems everywhere. This is a very good and easy read for anyone in the tech industry. It describes all parts of designing a distributed system and how various components interact with each other. The author has also made it available in form of a course on his website Crack Fang.

I highly recommend this book to anyone working in the tech industry.

[Saransh Agarwal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The perfect read! When it comes to topics such as system design, one can easily be entangled in all the jargon. However, in this book author has not only managed to keep it simple enough, but also drive the points through brilliantly. Must read!

[Arpit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for engineering students

[Sunil Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

[Sunita Kaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I never thought understanding how Instagram works could be made interesting. I think if someone could do it, it has to be Shivam.

[Roma Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a student preparing to land a software engineering job, I sought something more applicable outside of the monotonous content that I learned in the classroom. I luckily found this book, and I wish there were a course dedicated to learning what the book goes over in detail.

This book efficiently organizes all components of system design in an easy-to-understand process. Also, the step-by-step nature of the book makes it extremely easy to follow because the author provides various strategies to overcome any part of the interview you may get stuck on.

[Vikram Mittal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gems of knowledge not available elsewhere

Some of the topics discussed in this book were truly helpful to my knowledge of systems design - the emphasis on Scalability, for instance, has instilled in me the importance of designing a system that doesn't crash when having a high user growth.

The chapter on Messenger is worth the money of the book. I have not seen the discussion of a chat service in such detail and simple terms anywhere,
The author is a very well-respected software developer and entrepreneur and has experience in distributed computer systems for a long time.

[Vaibhav Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great resource to understand and practice system design knowledge for incoming interviews. The book is well constructed and filled with detailed examples.

Highly recommended.

[Anurag Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a student preparing to land a software engineering job, I sought something more applicable outside of the monotonous content that I learned in the classroom. I luckily found this book, and I wish there were a course dedicated to learning what the book goes over in detail.

This book efficiently organizes all components of system design in an easy-to-understand process. Also, the step-by-step nature of the book makes it extremely easy to follow because the author provides various strategies to overcome any part of the interview you may get stuck on.

[Matthew Balshaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

A basic introduction to architecting software applications.

I found it pretty repetitive, some sections were actually copy pasted. There were a few English mistakes throughout the book as well.

It's not bad for some basic advice and a big picture overview of how some applications could be architected. It was a very short read but I think there are better resources to spend your time on.

[Pragati Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crisp and very well written!

Reading this book was like learning for the masters. Must read for a beginner, and after reading this book, I have developed a whole new interest in this field. Thanks Shivam Singh!

[Himanshu Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid! Good practice for both interviewees and interviewers in systems design. There are a lot of coding interview books but not many systems design. That's a shame because that part becomes more important for mid-level and senior eng positions. This book fills this gap well.

[Ralph-Arnold Steiner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for anyone looking to develop a solid understanding of system design principles. Whether you're a software engineer preparing for technical interviews or a seasoned professional looking to refine your skills, this book offers a clear, well-structured approach to designing scalable and efficient systems.

What stands out is Singh’s ability to simplify complex concepts. The book covers a wide range of topics, including distributed systems, database design, caching strategies, and load balancing, all explained in a way that’s easy to digest. Diagrams and practical examples throughout the book provide great support, making the material more engaging and easier to apply.

Another strong feature is how Singh addresses real-world system design challenges, with case studies that demonstrate how large-scale systems like Facebook or Twitter are architected. This makes the book not only theoretical but also highly relevant to today’s fast-evolving tech landscape.

While the book provides a broad foundation, there are areas where more depth could be helpful—particularly in advanced topics like microservices architecture or cloud-native systems. However, for anyone just starting out or seeking to strengthen their grasp on core design concepts, this book delivers substantial value.