LEARNING PATH
Curriculum: System Design for Mid-Level Interviews
Go from "I can build it" to "I can design it on a whiteboard" — pass the system design round in a mid-level backend interview with structure, not senior-level trivia.
LOADING MAP…
WHY THIS PATH
The mid-level system design round is NOT the senior round. Nobody expects you to shard a database across 10 regions or debate consensus protocols. The mid-level bar is narrower and more practical: can you take a vague prompt, ask the right questions, sketch a sane baseline architecture, and defend the two or three trade-offs you actually made? Most candidates fail this round by studying the wrong things. They memorize senior content — sharding, CRDTs, consensus — and then freeze on the actual question, which is usually "design a URL shortener" or "design a news feed." This path trains the *shape of the answer* first (requirements → estimation → architecture → deep dive), the *pieces* second (caching, queues, replicas), and ends with a recorded mock gauntlet — because the interview is a performance, and performances get rehearsed.
THE RULES
- No paid resources, ever — ByteByteGo's YouTube is free, Kleppmann's lectures are free, Pramp's peer mocks are free. The paid courses are convenience, not requirement.
- Do the checkpoints, not just the reading — every checkpoint is a rehearsal; the links are just fuel. Reading without recording is studying without performing.
- Time-box everything — 40-minute mocks, 10-minute requirement passes, timer on, from day one. The interview is a timed performance.
- Record yourself weekly — cringe is the fastest feedback loop. Listen for rambling, skipping requirements, and undeclared assumptions.
- If a link dies, it gets fixed — this file is maintained, not archived.