System design

The blueprint room

Full system designs, drawn carefully and then set on fire. The baseline at a brisk walk, the failure modes at length, and the question every entry keeps asking: which half of this is allowed to die, and did anyone choose that?

2 designs on the boards

Design number 2: Two million games, one running clock

Plate two: two players sharing one truth while the clock runs, and why the bravest thing a real-time system can do is stop.

· 17 min read

Design number 1: Designing a URL shortener for its worst day

Resilience is a design input, not a deep dive at the end. The first in a series: the smallest system everyone knows, designed around the question of what is allowed to die.

· 16 min read

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