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How deep dives fit into your study plan.

Start your study plan with building blocks such as queues, databases and caches. Once you understand their basic responsibilities, use deep dives to examine how they behave in a design and which trade-offs matter. Then combine that knowledge in complete system-design questions.

Where this fits in your preparation

  1. Building blocks

    Learn what core components—queues, databases and caches—do, how they work at a basic level, and what they are used for.

  2. Deep dives

    Work through focused lessons that build on those foundations, examining mechanisms, design decisions and trade-offs.

  3. System-design questions

    Bring those ideas together to solve complete problems, explain your choices and find what needs more work.

What do you do in a deep dive?

  1. Build on the foundation

    Take a building block you already understand and examine a problem or design decision involving it.

  2. Follow the reasoning

    Work through explanations, diagrams and examples to understand why the design choices make sense.

  3. Explore the trade-offs

    Consider the benefits, costs, limits and situations where another approach fits better.

  4. Explain and apply it

    Describe the idea in your own words, then try using it in a different design problem.

Bring the ideas together.

In a new system-design question, start from its requirements, choose the building blocks that fit, and use your deep-dive understanding to explain the important decisions. Return to the relevant topic when you uncover a gap.