The URL shortener with a payload: the same id generation and cache-first read path, but the value is kilobytes of text, so it moves out of the database and into object storage.
Backend and product engineers designing software behavior.
Your approach: Use diagrams, tables or prose for customer contracts, state transitions and data ownership; include APIs only to the depth the question requests.
Design a Text Sharing Service like Pastebin. The URL shortener with a payload: the same id generation and cache-first read path, but the value is kilobytes of text, so it moves out of the database and into object storage. Work from the scoping questions below. State assumptions for any unspecified load, guarantee or target, then trace your design end to end. Explain one difficult case and a credible alternative; the worked example is a reference, not a required implementation.
Resolve the scoping questions for a Text Sharing Service like Pastebin. Separate stated behavior from assumptions, and identify what is outside your design.
Declare relevant volume, latency, freshness, quality or cost targets with units. Show calculations or an evaluation plan that can test them; unspecified targets are your assumptions, not hidden pass criteria.
Explain how your guarantees hold in a difficult case relevant to this subject. Address: What latency and availability must a popular entry achieve? Which abuse controls and ownership checks are required?
Identify users, required behavior and exclusions. Answer: How large can a text entry be and how many are created each day? Are entries public, unlisted or private?
Define the information owned by the system and the inputs, outputs and errors at its boundaries. Resolve: Can an entry expire or be deleted before expiry? What latency and availability must a popular entry achieve?
Estimate the dominant workload and resource demand with units and explicit assumptions. For a learned system, also state how quality is measured and what data is available.
Draw or describe the responsibilities needed for a Text Sharing Service like Pastebin. Trace a representative request, event or job from its input to a visible result; identify durable state owners.
Walk through a difficult case step by step, including detection and recovery. Consider: Which abuse controls and ownership checks are required?
Compare a credible alternative using your chosen workload and guarantees. Explain a remaining risk, a signal to watch and when you would change the design.