Most software engineers can build features. Far fewer can design the entire platform behind them, end-to-end, in production. Cloud architecture has become the defining skill of a senior engineer, yet most resources teach it in fragments, leaving you to assemble the full picture on your own.
Drawing on decades of enterprise architecture experience, the authors provide a complete, end-to-end blueprint. You begin with the foundations: core pillars (availability, performance, security, observability, cost, and sustainability), design patterns, methods, technology selection, and adaptive architecture, taught through one running case study, Aethera Airlines. Then you design nine real-world systems from the ground up: UPI payments, a trading platform, OTT streaming, a collaborative document editor, an agentic LLM-powered recommendation engine, plus chat, social media, ride-sharing, and a URL shortener. Throughout, you apply domain-driven design, API-first thinking, capacity planning, and multi-cloud cost trade-offs, with hands-on exercises and design challenges for each of the nine systems.
By the end, you will think and build like a cloud architect: engineering fault-tolerant, secure, and observable platforms on any major cloud, and ready for senior system design interviews at top tech companies.
What you will learn
● Build nine real-world cloud systems end-to-end.
● Design payments, trading, streaming, and agentic AI systems.
● Apply DDD, API-first design, and proven cloud-native patterns.
● Engineer security, fault tolerance, scalability, and cost control.
● Prepare for system design interviews with hands-on exercises.
Who this book is for
This book is for software engineers, cloud developers, system architects, and technical leaders who want to master full-lifecycle cloud architecture. It is equally valuable for final-year computer science students targeting campus placements and professionals preparing for senior system design interviews on major cloud platforms.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction to System Design
2. Key Pillars of System Design
3. Patterns of System Design
4. Methods of System Design
5. Choosing Right Technology and Infrastructure
6. Adaptive Nature of System Design
7. Designing a URL Shortening Service
8. Design a Ride Sharing Service
9. Design a UPI System
10. Designing a Chat Application
11. Design a Social Media Platform
12. Design a Recommendation System
13. Design a Trading System
14. Design a Collaborative Document Editing Platform
15. Design an OTT Streaming Platform
Ajoy Acharyya is an enterprise technology leader with over 22 years of experience architecting solutions for Fortune 500 companies - from multi-tenant SaaS platforms and enterprise marketplaces to mainframe modernization programs for the world's largest retailers and financial institutions. A prolific inventor with multiple patents filed with the USPTO, he combines deep expertise in application architecture, cloud platforms, DevSecOps, and artificial intelligence with a rare ability to execute at speed. Equally passionate about democratizing technology, Ajoy has trained 1,000+ practitioners in AI and partnered with government institutions to bring industry-ready curricula to underprivileged students. Based in Bengaluru, India, he advises globally on AI platform architecture. Arijit Roy is principal architect and director of software architecture with over two decades of experience in designing and scaling complex, cloud-native and data-driven systems for global enterprises. At present, he is leading platform level architecture initiatives spanning application modernisation, data foundations, and large scale digital transformation across multiple industries. His work focuses on microservices, multi-tenant architectures, federated data platforms, and governance driven design that enables business agility at scale. Known for combining deep technical rigour with pragmatic execution, he has played a key role in shaping next generation enterprise platforms. Arijit believes that effective software architecture lies at the intersection of elegant design, resilience, and real-world impact.
