Data Model Design and Access Patterns Questions
Discuss how you'd design data models based on access patterns. Understand relational vs. NoSQL trade-offs. Know when to denormalize, how to handle distributed transactions, and strategies for scaling databases (sharding, partitioning). Discuss read vs. write optimization.
MediumSystem Design
37 practiced
You operate a multi-tenant SaaS platform with tenants ranging from hobby customers to enterprises. Propose a sharding strategy to balance tenants across shards, reduce hotspots, support tenant-level backups, and allow dedicated resources for large tenants. Discuss shard key selection, tenant isolation (shared vs dedicated), resharding approach, and implications for cross-tenant analytics.
HardTechnical
37 practiced
Explain the CAP theorem and the PACELC extension. For each of the following systems, identify whether you would prioritize consistency or availability and why: a) banking ledger, b) social feed, c) shopping cart. Describe how these choices influence your data model and access patterns.
EasyTechnical
40 practiced
Describe the differences between B-tree and hash indexes. For each, state typical use-cases, query types they accelerate (range vs equality), and limitations (range scans, partial matches). How do these index choices affect physical data layout, disk I/O, and update costs?
EasyTechnical
32 practiced
Explain normalization (1NF, 2NF, 3NF) and denormalization. Using a sample orders domain (customers, orders, order_items, products), explain when you would denormalize (embed, precompute, materialize) and what trade-offs (storage, update complexity, consistency, query latency) you would accept for read-heavy vs write-heavy workloads.
HardTechnical
32 practiced
Design a metadata-driven schema generation system that creates tenant-specific schemas based on declarative metadata about access patterns. Include how you would version the generator logic, validate generated schemas, test migrations, support tenant customizations, and minimize code duplication across tenants.
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