The book is the masterclass. This repository is the practice lab.
The book teaches the full reasoning, chapter walkthroughs, trade-off narratives, and interview storytelling. This repository helps you practice that thinking through templates, prompts, rubrics, diagrams, and companion artifacts.
This is the official companion repository for System Design with AI Interview Guide. It is designed for developers, senior engineers, architects, engineering leaders, instructors, and interview candidates who want to practice modern system design with an AI-aware mindset.
This repository is intentionally not a free replacement for the book. The book gives the full learning path: the 7-Step Method, detailed chapter narratives, applied system walkthroughs, diagrams, interview trade-offs, failure analysis, and AI-era architecture reasoning. The repository gives you the practice surface: worksheets, templates, prompts, rubrics, checklists, and chapter-level artifacts that help you apply what the book teaches.
New here? Start with the book for the complete explanations, then use this repository to practice until the method becomes automatic.
For the complete explanations, end-to-end design walkthroughs, architecture diagrams, trade-off reasoning, and interview strategy, read System Design with AI Interview Guide from Apress / Springer Nature.
When the official book page is available, add it here:
- Apress book page:
BOOK_LINK_HERE - SpringerLink page:
SPRINGER_LINK_HERE
This repository is a companion lab for the book. It helps you:
- Practice the 7-Step System Design Method.
- Prepare for system design interviews.
- Use AI tools as mock interviewers and architecture reviewers.
- Build structured answers instead of memorizing diagrams.
- Evaluate your own answers with a repeatable rubric.
- Use chapter-level artifacts as exercises, not substitutes for the chapters.
This repository is not:
- A copy of the book.
- A replacement for the complete chapter explanations.
- A production reference architecture.
- Legal, compliance, security, financial, or operational advice.
- A shortcut around learning trade-off reasoning.
Most candidates memorize diagrams. Strong candidates defend decisions. This repository helps you practice the second skill.
Use this loop for every chapter:
Read -> Sketch -> Defend -> Challenge -> Revise -> Replay
- Read the chapter in the book.
- Sketch the design using the chapter artifact.
- Defend the architecture aloud as if you are in an interview.
- Challenge the answer using the prompt library.
- Revise the design based on scale, failure, data, security, and cost feedback.
- Replay the decision path using evidence, assumptions, and trade-offs.
| Document | Use It For |
|---|---|
HOW-TO-USE-THIS-REPO.md |
Reader onboarding and practice paths |
BOOK-CODE-MAP.md |
Mapping chapters to companion artifacts |
SEVEN-STEP-METHOD.md |
Quick-reference card for the book method |
INTERVIEW-RUBRIC.md |
Scoring and improving system design answers |
PRACTICE-GUIDE.md |
7-day, 30-day, and 60-day learning plans |
PROMPT-LIBRARY.md |
AI prompts for mock interviews and architecture review |
AI-SYSTEM-DESIGN-GUIDE.md |
Compact guide to AI-era system design concerns |
DIAGRAM-GUIDE.md |
Standards for architecture diagrams and decision views |
ARCHITECTURE-DECISION-RECORD-TEMPLATE.md |
Trade-off defense template |
SYSTEM-DESIGN-CHECKLIST.md |
Final interview readiness checklist |
GLOSSARY.md |
Acronyms and terminology used across the repo |
CONTRIBUTING.md |
Contribution and correction guidelines |
DISCLAIMER.md |
Educational-use disclaimer |
LICENSE |
Reuse boundary |
| Your Goal | Start Here |
|---|---|
| I am preparing for interviews | PRACTICE-GUIDE.md + INTERVIEW-RUBRIC.md |
| I want to understand the book method | SEVEN-STEP-METHOD.md, then read Part I of the book |
| I want to practice with AI | PROMPT-LIBRARY.md |
| I want to draw better architecture diagrams | DIAGRAM-GUIDE.md |
| I landed here before buying the book | Start with this README, then read the book for the full walkthroughs |
The book and repository treat AI as part of modern architecture, not magic. AI changes system design because it introduces probabilistic behavior, model latency, grounding, prompt and policy versions, tool permissions, evaluation, evidence, and replay. This repository gives you prompts and templates to practice those concerns. The book explains them through full examples.
When using these materials in workshops, study groups, internal training, or public posts, please reference the book: System Design with AI Interview Guide by Rohit Bhardwaj, Apress / Springer Nature.
System design mastery is not the ability to draw more boxes. It is the ability to make commitments, defend trade-offs, and explain what happens when reality changes. The book teaches that mindset. This repository helps you practice it.