Books, courses, and platforms
I didn’t create or have any affiliation with the resources listed here.
This is a curated list of books, courses and platforms I personally recommend because they’ve helped me and others level up in system design. All credit goes to the original creators.
Books
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
↳ Deep, rigorous, and a must-read for any backend/system design role.
System Design Interview – Alex Xu
↳ Interview-focused, visual, and clear. Volumes 1 & 2 are both worth it.
Web Scalability for Software Engineers
↳ Straightforward systems thinking with startup pragmatism. Underrated.
Courses
↳ The most polished system design course out there. Visual, clear, and updated regularly.
Grokking the Modern System Design Interview by Educative
↳ The OG structured system design course. Still useful, especially for frameworks and mental models.
Platforms
↳ Guided system design whiteboarding practice with personalised feedback.
↳ Platform-based learning for system design interviews. New, growing fast.
↳ Same team behind Grokking with courses beyond system design too.
↳ Structured prep across product, tech, and design roles.
Want more System Design content?
Every week, you'll get a new system design concept, broken down as simple as possible but not simpler.
Free subscribers also get a little bonus:
🎁 The System Design Interview Preparation Cheat Sheet
If you're into visuals, paid subscribers unlock:
→ My Excalidraw system design template – so you have somewhere to start
→ My Excalidraw component library – used in the diagram of this issue
No pressure though. Your support helps me keep writing, and I appreciate it more than you know ❤️