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Intermediate2 Flashcards

Design Web Crawler Design a Search Autocomplete Service Design a News Feed System Design a Ride-Sharing System (like Uber) Design an API Rate Limiter for Distributed Systems (70 cards)

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1
Q

What is a Web Crawler?

A

A Web Crawler is a program that systematically browses the internet to index and collect data from web pages for search engines and other applications.

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2
Q

What are the advantages of a Web Crawler?

A

Automates data collection, keeps search indexes up-to-date, and enables large-scale web monitoring.

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3
Q

What are the disadvantages of a Web Crawler?

A

High bandwidth usage, potential to overload servers, and challenges in handling dynamic content.

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4
Q

What are best practices when designing a Web Crawler?

A

Implement politeness policies, respect robots.txt, use efficient URL scheduling, and handle duplicate content.

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5
Q

What are common use cases for a Web Crawler?

A

Search engine indexing, data mining, price monitoring, and content aggregation.

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6
Q

How does a Web Crawler impact system design?

A

Requires scalable storage, efficient scheduling algorithms, and robust error handling mechanisms.

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7
Q

Give an example of a Web Crawler.

A

Googlebot, the crawler used by Google to index web pages.

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8
Q

What are the architectural components of a Web Crawler?

A

URL frontier, fetcher, parser, duplicate URL eliminator, and data storage.

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9
Q

How can performance be ensured in a Web Crawler?

A

Use distributed crawling, prioritize high-value pages, and implement caching mechanisms.

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10
Q

How can fault tolerance be added to a Web Crawler?

A

Implement retries, monitor crawler health, and use checkpoints to resume from failures.

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11
Q

How is monitoring and debugging handled in a Web Crawler?

A

Track crawl rates, monitor errors, and log fetched URLs for analysis.

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12
Q

What is a real-world tradeoff in Web Crawlers?

A

Balancing crawl depth and breadth with resource constraints and freshness requirements.

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13
Q

What is a common interview question on Web Crawlers?

A

Design a scalable web crawler that can index billions of web pages efficiently.

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14
Q

What is a potential gotcha in Web Crawlers?

A

Ignoring robots.txt can lead to legal issues and being blocked by websites.

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15
Q

What is a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

A system that provides real-time suggestions to users as they type queries, enhancing search efficiency.

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16
Q

What are the advantages of a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Improves user experience, reduces typing effort, and guides users to popular or relevant queries.

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17
Q

What are the disadvantages of a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Requires real-time performance, handling of ambiguous inputs, and potential for inappropriate suggestions.

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18
Q

What are best practices when designing a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Use prefix trees (tries), implement ranking algorithms, and update suggestions based on user behavior.

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19
Q

What are common use cases for a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Search engines, e-commerce sites, and online directories.

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20
Q

How does a Search Autocomplete Service impact system design?

A

Demands low-latency responses, efficient data structures, and real-time analytics.

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21
Q

Give an example of a Search Autocomplete Service.

A

Google’s search suggestion feature that provides query completions.

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22
Q

What are the architectural components of a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Frontend input handler, backend suggestion engine, ranking module, and analytics collector.

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23
Q

How can performance be ensured in a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Implement caching, use efficient data structures like tries, and optimize backend queries.

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24
Q

How can fault tolerance be added to a Search Autocomplete Service?

A

Use redundant servers, implement graceful degradation, and monitor system health.

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25
How is monitoring and debugging handled in a Search Autocomplete Service?
Track response times, monitor suggestion accuracy, and log user interactions.
26
What is a real-world tradeoff in Search Autocomplete Services?
Balancing suggestion relevance with diversity to cater to various user intents.
27
What is a common interview question on Search Autocomplete Services?
Design an autocomplete system that handles millions of queries with low latency.
28
What is a potential gotcha in Search Autocomplete Services?
Failing to filter inappropriate or offensive suggestions can harm user trust.
29
What is a News Feed System?
A system that aggregates and displays personalized content updates to users based on their interests and connections.
30
What are the advantages of a News Feed System?
Enhances user engagement, provides personalized content, and encourages frequent visits.
31
What are the disadvantages of a News Feed System?
Complexity in ranking algorithms, potential echo chambers, and scalability challenges.
32
What are best practices when designing a News Feed System?
Implement efficient ranking algorithms, support real-time updates, and allow user customization.
33
What are common use cases for a News Feed System?
Social media platforms, news aggregators, and content recommendation systems.
34
How does a News Feed System impact system design?
Requires real-time data processing, scalable storage, and personalized content delivery mechanisms.
35
Give an example of a News Feed System.
Facebook's News Feed that shows updates from friends and pages.
36
What are the architectural components of a News Feed System?
Content ingestion pipeline, user profile manager, ranking engine, and delivery system.
37
How can performance be ensured in a News Feed System?
Use caching for popular content, implement efficient data retrieval, and optimize ranking computations.
38
How can fault tolerance be added to a News Feed System?
Deploy redundant services, implement failover mechanisms, and monitor system health.
39
How is monitoring and debugging handled in a News Feed System?
Track content delivery metrics, monitor user engagement, and log system errors.
40
What is a real-world tradeoff in News Feed Systems?
Balancing content freshness with computational efficiency and personalization depth.
41
What is a common interview question on News Feed Systems?
Design a scalable news feed system that delivers personalized content in real-time.
42
What is a potential gotcha in News Feed Systems?
Over-personalization can lead to filter bubbles, reducing content diversity.
43
What is a Ride-Sharing System?
A platform that connects passengers with drivers for transportation services, facilitating ride requests and payments.
44
What are the advantages of a Ride-Sharing System?
Convenience for users, efficient resource utilization, and dynamic pricing models.
45
What are the disadvantages of a Ride-Sharing System?
Regulatory challenges, driver-partner management, and ensuring safety and reliability.
46
What are best practices when designing a Ride-Sharing System?
Implement real-time location tracking, efficient matching algorithms, and secure payment systems.
47
What are common use cases for a Ride-Sharing System?
Urban transportation, carpooling services, and delivery logistics.
48
How does a Ride-Sharing System impact system design?
Requires real-time data processing, scalable infrastructure, and robust user management.
49
Give an example of a Ride-Sharing System.
Uber, a platform connecting riders with drivers through a mobile app.
50
What are the architectural components of a Ride-Sharing System?
User app, driver app, backend services for matching and dispatch, payment gateway, and database.
51
How can performance be ensured in a Ride-Sharing System?
Optimize matching algorithms, use scalable cloud infrastructure, and implement load balancing.
52
How can fault tolerance be added to a Ride-Sharing System?
Deploy redundant services, implement real-time monitoring, and have fallback mechanisms.
53
How is monitoring and debugging handled in a Ride-Sharing System?
Track ride metrics, monitor system logs, and analyze user feedback.
54
What is a real-world tradeoff in Ride-Sharing Systems?
Balancing supply and demand to minimize wait times while maximizing driver utilization.
55
What is a common interview question on Ride-Sharing Systems?
Design a scalable ride-sharing platform that matches riders with nearby drivers efficiently.
56
What is a potential gotcha in Ride-Sharing Systems?
Handling surge pricing and ensuring fairness can be challenging during peak demand.
57
What is an API Rate Limiter for Distributed Systems?
A mechanism that controls the number of API requests a client can make within a specified time frame to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage.
58
What are the advantages of an API Rate Limiter?
Protects services from overload, ensures fair resource distribution, and enhances security.
59
What are the disadvantages of an API Rate Limiter?
May inadvertently block legitimate users and adds complexity to system design.
60
What are best practices when designing an API Rate Limiter?
Implement token bucket or leaky bucket algorithms, provide informative error responses, and allow configurable limits.
61
What are common use cases for an API Rate Limiter?
Public APIs, microservices communication, and preventing denial-of-service attacks.
62
How does an API Rate Limiter impact system design?
Requires integration with authentication systems, real-time monitoring, and distributed coordination.
63
Give an example of an API Rate Limiter.
AWS API Gateway's built-in rate limiting feature to control request rates.
64
What are the architectural components of an API Rate Limiter?
Request interceptor, rate limit counter, storage for tracking usage, and response handler.
65
How can performance be ensured in an API Rate Limiter?
Use in-memory data stores like Redis for tracking, implement efficient algorithms, and minimize latency.
66
How can fault tolerance be added to an API Rate Limiter?
Deploy redundant instances, use persistent storage for counters, and implement failover strategies.
67
How is monitoring and debugging handled in an API Rate Limiter?
Track request rates, monitor limit breaches, and log blocked requests for analysis.
68
What is a real-world tradeoff in API Rate Limiters?
Balancing strict enforcement to prevent abuse with flexibility to accommodate legitimate usage spikes.
69
What is a common interview question on API Rate Limiters?
Design a distributed rate limiter that can handle high traffic and ensure consistency across nodes.
70
What is a potential gotcha in API Rate Limiters?
Inconsistent rate limiting in distributed environments can lead to uneven enforcement and potential abuse.

System Design Case studies (8 decks)

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