Learning path
Software Architecture Best Practices
Quality attributes, boundaries, standards, and smells. Start with Fundamentals of Software Architecture, then Clean Architecture principles, then Hard Parts for distributed trade-offs.
Architecture learning resources
Tap menu for chapters & tools
Curated learning path
Architecture, system design & people leadership resources
Books, free YouTube courses, and platforms for architecture and system design, plus a people-management shelf for new leads. Prefer free foundations first, then go deep with books.
Learning path
System Design
Frame problems, estimate scale, and design APIs/data/failure modes. Pair freeCodeCamp foundations with ByteByteGo visuals and a structured course.
Learning path
System Architecture
Long-lived structure: domains, runtime topology, evolution. DDIA + Hard Parts for depth; ByteByteGo and Coursera for broader framing.
Learning path
People management shelf
1:1s, feedback, hiring judgment, and resilient leadership for new leads.
Showing 20 resources
- BookPaid / freemium
Designing Data-Intensive Applications
Martin Kleppmann
The gold standard for storage engines, replication, partitioning, streams, and consensus. Read when system design debates get hand-wavy.
Book · Distributed data systems theory with production-minded trade-offs
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Fundamentals of Software Architecture
Mark Richards & Neal Ford
Practical bridge from senior developer to architect: quality attributes, styles, soft skills, and team structure.
Book · Architectural styles, characteristics, and the architect role
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Software Architecture: The Hard Parts
Neal Ford, Mark Richards, et al.
Goes beyond styles into the painful trade-offs of service boundaries, shared data, and disintegrators/integrators.
Book · Coupling, granularity, and data ownership in distributed systems
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
System Design Interview (Vol 1 & 2)
Alex Xu (and Sahn Lam on Vol 2)
Clear frameworks for rate limiters, feeds, chat, storage, and estimation. Best paired with actual production design practice.
Book + digital · Step-by-step designs for real interview and production patterns
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Clean Architecture
Robert C. Martin
Keeps business policy independent of frameworks. Use principles over dogma when applying to modern stacks.
Book · SOLID, component boundaries, and dependency rules
Open resource - VideoFree
ByteByteGo
Alex Xu & Sahn Lam
Short, high-signal explainers of how real platforms scale (feeds, payments, messaging, caches).
YouTube channel · Visual diagrams of large-scale architectures and industry patterns
Open resource - VideoFree
Gaurav Sen. System Design Playlist
Gaurav Sen (@gkcs)
Strong conceptual depth without pure interview scripting. Excellent for building intuition on primitives.
YouTube playlist · Distributed primitives: hashing, queues, partitioning, rate limits
Open resource - VideoFree
System Design Course. APIs, Databases, Caching & Infra
Hayk Simonyan via freeCodeCamp
Complete beginner-to-production walkthrough published on freeCodeCamp (2026). Ideal first video course.
Full video course (~2h) · End-to-end foundation: scaling, load balancing, APIs, security
Open resource - VideoFree
High-Level System Design: Build a YouTube-like Platform
Keerti Purswani via freeCodeCamp
Hands-on case study that connects diagrams to a realistic multi-service design.
Full video course (~2h) · Upload, watch, transcoder services as a worked HLD example
Open resource - VideoFree
CodeKarle (System Design)
Sandeep Kaul
Approachable walkthroughs of common HA designs; useful after you know the primitives.
YouTube channel · Interview-style high-availability designs and enterprise patterns
Open resource - VideoFree
Hello Interview. System Design Walkthroughs
Hello Interview
Modern walkthroughs that mirror how FAANG-style interviews are actually assessed.
YouTube channel · Staff-level interview walkthroughs and pattern deep dives
Open resource - CoursePaid / freemium
ByteByteGo Platform
Alex Xu & team
Living expansion of the System Design Interview books with regular updates and visual depth.
Interactive text + diagrams · Illustrated system design curriculum with ongoing case studies
Open resource - CoursePaid / freemium
Grokking the System Design Interview
Design Gurus / Educative
Classic structured path for interview-style design with explicit trade-off framing.
Text-interactive course · Trade-offs, capacity estimation, and high-availability patterns
Open resource - CoursePaid / freemium
Software Design and Architecture Specialization
University of Alberta (Coursera)
Structured academic series when you want formal design patterns and architecture foundations, not only interview drills.
Academic video specialization · OOA/D, design patterns, and enterprise architecture styles
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
The Manager's Path
Camille Fournier
The practical map of eng leadership altitudes. Pair with the hiring and 90-days chapters.
Book · Engineering leadership stages from mentor to director
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Resilient Management
Lara Hogan
Concrete people practices without jargon fog. Strong on feedback and team health.
Book · 1:1s, feedback, and steady leadership under stress
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Radical Candor
Kim Scott
A usable model for feedback that is neither silence nor brutality.
Book · Care personally, challenge directly
Open resource - VideoFree
StaffEng guides (web)
Will Larson et al.
How senior ICs create leverage. Useful dual-track context.
Essays · Staff-plus IC leadership without people management
Open resource - VideoFree
Charity Majors on engineering management
Charity Majors
Blunt, experience-heavy takes on what managers owe their teams.
Talks / interviews · Management craft, on-call, and technical leadership opinions
Open resource - BookPaid / freemium
Team Topologies
Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais
The practical language for stream, platform, enabling, and complicated-subsystem teams. Pair with the Team Topology Patterns chapter.
Book + resources · Team types, interaction modes, and cognitive load for fast flow
Open resource
Learning path
Suggested study order
A practical sequence from free foundations to deep architecture trade-offs. Adjust if you already own one layer.
- 01freeCodeCamp system design courseAPIs, databases, caching, and infra foundations
- 02ByteByteGo + Gaurav SenPlaylists for pattern intuition and visual models
- 03Fundamentals of Software ArchitectureRichards & Ford, styles, quality attributes, trade-offs
- 04System Design Interview drillsAlex Xu books / ByteByteGo platform practice
- 05Designing Data-Intensive ApplicationsDepth on storage, replication, streams, and consensus
- 06Software Architecture: The Hard PartsWhen you own multi-service boundaries and data ownership
External sites may change pricing or availability. Prefer official channel and publisher links.