How to Master System Design Like a Senior Engineer (From Foundations to Production)

Comprehensive guide covering system design fundamentals from single-server setups to production-scale architectures. Explores core concepts including API design patterns (REST, GraphQL, gRPC), database selection (SQL vs NoSQL), scaling strategies (vertical vs horizontal), load balancing algorithms, caching, and protocol choices (HTTP, WebSockets, AMQP). Demonstrates how to design systems that handle millions of users, make architectural trade-offs, and build fault-tolerant infrastructure with practical examples of each component.