𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴
Most engineers jump to tools.Good engineers start with trade-offs.
When designing a system, I ask:
1. What is the scale?
2. What can fail?
3. What consistency is required?
4. What can be async?
Only after that:
→ DB choice
→ Kafka / queues
→ APIs
Because every system is a balance:
• Consistency vs Availability
• Latency vs Throughput
• Simplicity vs Flexibility
There is no perfect design.
Only 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀.
If you can explain your trade-offs clearly,
you already think like a senior engineer.