Description
Most software engineers can build features. Far fewer can design the entire platform behind them, end-to-end, in production. Cloud architecture has become the defining skill of a senior engineer, yet most resources teach it in fragments, leaving you to assemble the full picture on your own.
Drawing on decades of enterprise architecture experience, the authors provide a complete, end-to-end blueprint. You begin with the foundations: core pillars (availability, performance, security, observability, cost, and sustainability), design patterns, methods, technology selection, and adaptive architecture, taught through one running case study, Aethera Airlines. Then you design nine real-world systems from the ground up: UPI payments, a trading platform, OTT streaming, a collaborative document editor, an agentic LLM-powered recommendation engine, plus chat, social media, ride-sharing, and a URL shortener. Throughout, you apply domain-driven design, API-first thinking, capacity planning, and multi-cloud cost trade-offs, with hands-on exercises and design challenges for each of the nine systems.
By the end, you will think and build like a cloud architect: engineering fault-tolerant, secure, and observable platforms on any major cloud, and ready for senior system design interviews at top tech companies.
? Build nine real-world cloud systems end-to-end.
? Design payments, trading, streaming, and agentic AI systems.
? Apply DDD, API-first design, and proven cloud-native patterns.
? Engineer security, fault tolerance, scalability, and cost control.
? Prepare for system design interviews with hands-on exercises. Who this book is for
This book is for software engineers, cloud developers, system architects, and technical leaders who want to master full-lifecycle cloud architecture. It is equally valuable for final-year computer science students targeting campus placements and professionals preparing for senior system design interviews on major cloud platforms. Table of Contents
1. Introduction to System Design
2. Key Pillars of System Design
3. Patterns of System Design
4. Methods of System Design
5. Choosing Right Technology and Infrastructure
6. Adaptive Nature of System Design
7. Designing a URL Shortening Service
8. Design a Ride Sharing Service
9. Design a UPI System
10. Designing a Chat Application
11. Design a Social Media Platform
12. Design a Recommendation System
13. Design a Trading System
14. Design a Collaborative Document Editing Platform
15. Design an OTT Streaming Platform