System Design
Caching Strategies Every Backend Engineer Should Know
Cache-aside, read-through, write-through, write-behind — when each pattern fits, and the invalidation trade-offs nobody escapes.
3 min read
Category
System Design
13 articles
System Design
Backpressure in Streaming Systems
Bounded buffers, reactive pull-based demand, and log-based pull consumption: three ways streaming systems handle a slow consumer.
3 min read
System Design
The Transactional Outbox Pattern
How the transactional outbox pattern makes updating a database and publishing an event atomic, without a distributed transaction.
2 min read
System Design
Database Sharding Strategies That Survive Growth
Hash-based, range-based, and directory-based shard keys compared, and why resharding is the expensive part nobody plans for early.
2 min read
System Design
CDNs Are More Than Static Asset Caches
CDNs now run edge compute, cache dynamic responses, and shield origin from thundering herds — far more than a cache for static files.
2 min read
System Design
Load Balancing Strategies: L4 vs. L7
Transport-layer and application-layer load balancers make routing decisions with very different visibility — here's what each one trades off.
2 min read
System Design
Consistent Hashing, Explained From First Principles
How consistent hashing limits data movement when nodes join or leave, and why virtual nodes are what makes it actually balanced.
2 min read
System Design
Idempotency in Distributed Systems: Making Retries Safe
Idempotency keys, atomic check-and-write, and why PUT being idempotent by spec doesn't make it the right tool for a retried write.
2 min read
System Design
The Saga Pattern for Distributed Transactions
Choreography versus orchestration, compensating actions, and the eventual consistency you actually get from the saga pattern.
2 min read
System Design
CQRS Without the Ceremony
CQRS doesn't require event sourcing or a second database — a minimal, practical version of the pattern and when to reach for more.
2 min read
System Design
Event Sourcing Fundamentals: Storing Facts Instead of State
Why storing immutable facts instead of current state changes how you build, replay, and evolve systems, and when it isn't worth the cost.
2 min read
System Design
Message Queues vs. Event Streams: Picking the Right Backbone
Message queues and event streams solve different problems — a practical comparison of consumption models, ordering, replay, and backpressure.
2 min read
System Design
Rate Limiting Algorithms: Token Bucket, Sliding Window, and What Actually Fits
Fixed window, sliding window, token bucket, and leaky bucket rate limiters compared, with the burst and fairness trade-offs each one hides.
3 min read