๐Ÿช TechCookies
HomeDSASystem DesignMy Progress
Free
Log inStart free
TechCookies โ€” Practice ยท Learn ยท PrepareTechCookies โ€” Practice ยท Learn ยท Prepare
ConceptsPracticeSD challengesPricingPrivacyTermsContact
ยฉ 2026 TechCookies
TechCookies Pro โ€” System Design

Practice system design as a guided interview skill, not just a theory article.

Choose frontend, backend, or full-stack tracks, draw architecture diagrams, explain tradeoffs, receive automated feedback, and repeat weak areas.

Start practiceMy dashboard

51 practice prompts across 3 tracks ยท Diagram canvas ยท Rule-based validation ยท Expert solutions

Integrated learning path
Learn โ†’ Practice โ†’ Design โ†’ Score

Every concept is connected to practice tests and SD challenges. Concepts teach you the why; SD challenges test if you can apply it under interview conditions.

1
Learn

Study the concept with diagrams, key ideas, and write strategies

โ€บ
2
Practice MCQs

Reinforce understanding with topic-focused multiple-choice questions

โ€บ
3
SD challenge

Apply concepts to a full system design: requirements โ†’ diagram โ†’ trade-offs

โ€บ
4
Auto-score

Get rubric scoring, expert solution, and your next recommended prompt

Interactive preview
See how concept, practice, and design connect

Click through each screen below โ€” the same flow you get inside the platform. Learn a concept, take an MCQ test, then jump straight into the linked design challenge.

โ— TechCookies
โŠž Overview
๐Ÿ“– Learn
โ˜‘ Practice tests
โŠ— SD tests
FreeUpgrade
MK
Concepts
โ—‰CachingFree
โ—‰Load balancingFree
โ—ˆDatabasesPro
โ—ˆMessage queuesPro
โ—ˆConsistent hashingPro
SD tests
โ†—URL shortener
โ†—Design Twitter
โ†—Design YouTubePro
โ†—Notification sysPro
โ€บ System design โ€บ Caching
โ—‰ CachingFree
PerformanceRedisCDNDistributed systems
๐Ÿ“– Learn
โ˜‘ Practice test
โŠ— SD test
What is caching?
Caching stores frequently accessed data in fast storage so future requests skip the slow source โ€” cutting latency and reducing DB load.
โŠ› Cache-aside read flow
ClientrequestCacheRedisHIT โœ“MISSDatabasesource of truthpopulate cacheEvictionTTL / LRU
Write strategies
โ‡„ Write-through ยท Write-back ยท Write-around
Write-throughCacheDBConsistent, slower writesalways in syncWrite-backCacheDBFast writes, async flushrisk of data lossWrite-aroundCacheDBBypasses cache on writegood for infrequent data
Key concepts
TTL (time to live)
Cache entries expire after a set duration, forcing a fresh DB fetch.
LRU eviction
Evict the least recently used entry when the cache is full.
Cache stampede
Many requests hit DB when a hot key expires. Fix: mutex or probabilistic refresh.
CDN caching
Edge nodes cache content geographically close to users.
Advanced patterns
Consistent hashing
Distribute cache across nodes minimising rehashing on scale changes.
Hot key problem
One key gets overwhelming traffic โ€” fix with local caches or key replication.
๐Ÿ”’
Pro content
Advanced patterns and interview tips are on the Pro plan.
โŠ—
Ready to apply this?
Design a URL shortener โ€” a system that depends heavily on caching to serve billions of redirects efficiently.
๐Ÿ“ NotesCaching
Mine
Highlights
Flashcards
Today, 10:42 am
Write-around avoids polluting cache with cold data โ€” use when write-once, read-rarely.
write strategiescache-aside
Yesterday
Cache stampede โ†’ mutex lock or probabilistic early expiry (PER). Redis SET NX useful.
evictionredis
May 8
CDN = cache at edge. Origin shield adds an extra cache layer before origin server.
CDN

Choose your track

Each track targets a different interview context and skill set.

โฌก

Frontend System Design

React and Next.js architecture: components, routing, rendering, data fetching, state, accessibility, performance, and real-time UI.

ProReactNext.jsUI Architecture
โš™

Backend System Design

APIs, service boundaries, database schema, caching, queues, auth, rate limits, monitoring, retries, and scaling.

ProNode.jsDatabaseQueues
โ—ˆ

Full-Stack Architecture

End-to-end product flow: screens, APIs, payments, permissions, admin tools, deployment, failure handling, and cost.

ProProductArchitectureFull-Stack
Automated workflow

How practice becomes repeatable

The platform automates guidance, checking, scoring, comparison, and repetition. The learner still makes the design decisions.

1

Choose a track

Frontend, backend, or full-stack. Select difficulty and time.

2

Get a prompt

The system picks a practice problem based on your weak topics and role.

3

Design it

Fill requirements, draw a diagram, define APIs, data model, and tradeoffs.

4

Auto-validate

Platform checks missing components, weak flows, and incomplete sections.

5

Score and improve

Rubric score, expert solution, and next recommended prompt.

Automation principle

The system does not mark diagrams as simply correct or wrong. It validates whether you covered expected concepts, connections, tradeoffs, and failure cases.

Output: score, missing topics, strengths, expert answer, and next recommended prompt.

What engineers say

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… 4.9 from 140+ engineers
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…

โ€œThe URL Shortener challenge exposed my blind spot around DB sharding. Reviewed the concept, retried with AI rubric feedback, and nailed the exact same question in my Google loop.โ€

Arjun M.

Backend Engineer โ€” 2 yrs โ†’ Senior SWE at Google

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…

โ€œThe forgetting-curve flashcards on CDN and caching locked in theory I kept forgetting. The 7-dimension rubric gave my whiteboarding structure โ€” interviewers noticed immediately.โ€

Priya K.

Junior Frontend Dev โ†’ Mid-level Engineer at Stripe

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…

โ€œI went from blanking on tradeoffs to confidently discussing CAP theorem. The concept โ†’ practice โ†’ AI feedback loop is genuinely different from just watching YouTube talks.โ€

Dmitri V.

CS Grad, no SD interview experience โ†’ Cleared L5 System Design at Meta

Free

  • โœ“ 20 free challenges
  • โœ“ 30 concepts and practice tests
  • โœ“ Diagram canvas (basic)
  • โœ“ All 8 written sections
  • โœ“ Submit and view your answer
Try free prompt โ†’
Pro

TechCookies Pro

  • โœ“ Full prompt library โ€” all 51 prompts across 3 tracks
  • โœ“ All difficulty levels: beginner โ†’ staff
  • โœ“ Diagram canvas with save & restore
  • โœ“ Rule-based automated validation
  • โœ“ Expert solutions for every prompt
  • โœ“ Rubric scoring across 7 dimensions
  • โœ“ AI-powered evaluation with score + feedback
  • โœ“ Progress tracking and weak area detection
  • โœ“ Next prompt recommendations
Upgrade to Pro โ†’

Frequently asked questions

What's included in the free tier?+

Free access includes 5 system design prompts (beginner & intermediate), all concept pages marked Free, the diagram canvas, and rule-based validation feedback. AI evaluation and rubric scoring are Pro-only.

How does AI evaluation work?+

After you submit your design, our AI analyses it against a 7-dimension rubric: requirements, architecture, data model, scalability, failure handling, tradeoffs, and communication. You get a score, a per-dimension breakdown, specific strengths, and prioritised improvements.

How long does Pro access last?+

Pro access is currently granted as early access with no expiry date. Since we're in early access, there is no payment required โ€” we manually activate your account within 24 hours of approval.

What types of system design problems are covered?+

We cover backend, frontend, and fullstack tracks across all difficulty levels. Problems include URL shorteners, notification systems, rate limiters, live comment feeds, CDN design, search autocomplete, and more โ€” from beginner to staff-level complexity.

Is there a refund policy?+

Since we're in early access with no payment required, there's nothing to refund. When we introduce paid tiers we'll offer a 7-day satisfaction guarantee.