Preparing for a system design interview
Throughout the chapter, I mentioned how various concepts help both in your day-to-day work as well as in interview preparation. Here, I’ll go into more detail on what you can expect in a system design interview. Keep in mind that every company will be different, so do some research on the company ahead of time to get an idea of what to expect. The recruiter or recruitment materials often give you some general ideas as well.
There are two main types of system design questions:
- Building a system or feature from scratch: This type of question will have you designing a new system or feature on an existing system. The questions often ask you to add a new feature to your favorite app or design a system that meets a specific requirement. In this scenario, they are looking for you to put on your product hat as they are probing for what feature is missing, or how to design a system to meet a specific requirement. Be intentional...
