Design a URL shortener
The classic system design interview question worked through end to end: requirements, traffic and storage estimates, the API, generating short codes with base62 and counters, the database, caching redirects, 301 versus 302, analytics, abuse prevention and scaling.
CodexBash, , 6 min read
"Design a URL shortener like bit.ly" is one of the most common system design interview questions, because it is small enough to finish in 45 minutes yet touches nearly every core idea: estimation, API design, ID generation, databases, caching, scaling and abuse. This article works through it the way a strong candidate would, following the structure from our system design interview guide: requirements first, then estimates, then the design, then deeper dives.
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