# Introduction
Since AI can now generate large amounts of code, system design remains one of the few skills that cannot be easily replaced. Writing code is only one part of building real products. Designing scalable, reliable, and effective systems still requires knowledge, trade-offs, stakeholder discussions, and strong engineering judgment.
This is why system design continues to be very important in technical discussions. It's not just about knowing the right answer. It's about how you think, how you break down complexity, and how you justify your decisions. For many engineers, this is one of the most difficult parts of interview preparation because it requires both technical depth and structured communication.
The good news is that there are already excellent open source tools that can help. From comprehensive primers and sets of interview questions to visual explainers and specialized guides for mobile and front-end system design, these GitHub books have helped many candidates prepare more effectively and land roles faster.
In this article, we've collected 10 useful system design resources that can help you strengthen your fundamentals, practice common interview questions, and build a better framework for approaching system design discussions with confidence.
The image was generated with ChatGPT using a source image from AWS
# GitHub Repositories for System Design Discussion Questions
// 1. The Complete Primer Design System
If you start with just one database of system interview preparation, donnemartin/system-design-primer it's still one of the strongest places to start because it does more than list words.
It gives you a structured approach to open-ended interview questions, covers core system design topics, and includes practical examples that show how to brainstorm instead of memorizing answers.
// 2. Focused Interview Questions and Answers
If you're looking for a final destination that feels tied directly to interview preparation, checkcheckzz/system-design-interview it is a strong choice because it is designed to manage system design discussions in a systematic way in a short period of time.
Rather than acting like an in-depth textbook, it includes interview tips, system design fundamentals, example products and systems, engineering blog references, and question-oriented resources, making it especially useful for candidates looking for practical preparation material to review before interviews.
// 3. Visual Descriptions of Complex Systems
If you learn best by seeing how things fit together, ByteByteGoHq/system-design-101 it stands out because it explains complex systems using visuals and simple language instead of obfuscating them with theory.
The repository is designed to assist with system design discussions while making important topics such as protocols, APIs, databases, and architectural patterns easy to understand, making them especially useful for beginners and anyone looking for an intuitive way to build system design knowledge.
// 4. Step by Step Learning to Design a Program
If you're looking for a destination that feels like a guided learning experience, karanpratapsingh/system-design it's a solid choice because it's built around learning how to design systems at scale while simultaneously preparing for negotiations.
Rather than giving you only scattered questions, it helps build your understanding of distributed systems, scalability, design, and interview thinking in a step-by-step manner, making it especially useful for students who want to solidify the basics before jumping into mock interview-style challenges.
// 5. Selected Program Design Resources
If you like to read from a wide collection of free materials, ashishps1/awesome-system-design-resources is helpful because it brings together free resources aimed at learning system design concepts and preparing for interviews.
It works well as a companion repository as it is less of a single tutorial format and more about providing you with a curated set of articles, videos, and learning methods that you can use to fill in the gaps, quickly review topics, and expand beyond the basics.
// 6. Conversation Patterns and Problem Solving Techniques
If you're looking for a last resort that goes beyond surface-level interview prep, DreamOfTheRedChamber/system-design-interviews it is useful because it mixes the thinking of a system design discussion with deep technical discussions in all areas such as protocols, infrastructure, and architecture.
The repo stands on its own for in-depth discussion and includes topic-specific notes that can help you build a strong instinct for problem-solving, making it a good choice for candidates who want to understand how systems work under interview information rather than just memorizing generic answers.
// 7. Practical Preparation Links and Notes
If you choose a lightweight resource you can browse quickly before conversations, shashank88/system_design it is useful because it is actually a curated collection of preparation links and documentation for system development and open interview rounds.
It's especially useful for revision as it includes resources that focus both on interview preparation and understanding how large systems work, so it works well as a practical reference hub rather than a one-line tutorial.
// 8. Discussion Framework for Mobile System Design
If you are configuring mobile-specific chats, weeeBox/mobile-system-design it's particularly useful because it focuses on the framework for dealing with mobile system design questions for iOS and Android roles, instead of treating mobile as an afterthought.
The repository emphasizes the thinking and communication process, and includes practical exercises surrounding real application design scenarios, making it a solid resource for candidates looking for a more targeted way to prepare for a mobile system design interview.
// 9. Advanced Services for Distributed Systems
If you want to go deeper into the distributed system side of system design, madd86/awesome-system-design is a robust resource because it is structured as a curated collection of articles, videos, and learning materials focused on system design and distributed computing.
It is especially useful for people who want to go beyond the basics of the interview and strengthen their understanding of large-scale architectures, microservices, and large distributed systems with a wide set of resources.
// 10. Frontend System Design Interview Resources
If your focus is on frontline conversations, greatfrontend/awesome-front-end-system-design it's important because front-end system design resources are still scarce, and this repository was chosen for that gap.
It brings together resources for both interview preparation and general reading, making it a useful starting point for developers who want to get better at discussing abstractions, architectures, and trade-offs from a front-end systems perspective rather than just a back-end one.
# Wrapping up
To make things easier, here's a quick review table of all 10 databases so you can quickly decide which one fits your learning style, interview needs, and current experience level.
| A repository | It's very good | Why You Would |
|---|---|---|
| donnemartin/system-design-primer | Beginners to intermediate students | A well-structured all-in-one primer with basics, examples, and interview preparation |
| checkcheckzz/system-design-interview | Focused preparation for the interview | Focusing on design interview questions, answers, and preparation materials |
| ByteByteGoHq/system-design-101 | Visual learners | Explains complex systems using diagrams and simple language |
| karanpratapsingh/system-design | Step by step readers | It sounds a lot like a guided learning approach to scoring systems and preparing for an interview |
| ashishps1/awesome-system-design-resources | People interested in a list of selected resources | It gives you tons of free articles, videos, and guides in one place |
| DreamOfTheRedChamber/system-design-interviews | Candidates who want deep technical thinking | It includes interview prep and extensive technical discussions about systems and architecture |
| shashank88/system_design | Quick review before interviews | A handy collection of easy-to-read prep links and notes |
| weeeBox/mobile-system-design | Mobile developers | It is designed for iOS and Android system design interview optimization |
| madd86/awesome-system-design | Advanced students and distributed systems students | A robust curated collection of deep dives into distributed system topics |
| greatfrontend/awesome-front-end-system-design | Front developers | The focus is on frontend system design, which has not been covered much elsewhere |
Abid Ali Awan (@1abidiawan) is a data science expert with a passion for building machine learning models. Currently, he specializes in content creation and technical blogging on machine learning and data science technologies. Abid holds a Master's degree in technology management and a bachelor's degree in telecommunication engineering. His idea is to create an AI product using a graph neural network for students with mental illness.
