Architecture Case Studies
Learn from the masters.
Deep dives into the architecture of complex real-world systems. Each study dissects the constraints, trade-offs, and smart design solutions that shaped the systems millions of people depend on daily.
Netflix: Microservices, Chaos, and the Art of Failing Gracefully
AdvancedHow Netflix evolved from a monolithic DVD rental app to a globally distributed streaming platform serving 260+ million subscribers — and why they intentionally break their own systems.
WhatsApp: 2 Billion Users, 50 Engineers, and the Power of Erlang
IntermediateHow WhatsApp achieved planet-scale messaging with a radically small team by choosing Erlang's concurrency model and rejecting the complexity of microservices entirely.
Uber: From Monolith to Microservices to DOMA — A Three-Act Architecture
AdvancedHow Uber's architecture evolved through three distinct phases — and why their microservices decomposition almost broke the company before DOMA saved it.
Git: The Elegant Machinery of Content-Addressable Storage
IntermediateHow Linus Torvalds designed a version control system from first principles — using Merkle trees, DAGs, and content-addressable storage to create something deceptively simple yet extraordinarily powerful.
Slack: The Hidden Complexity of Real-Time Messaging at Enterprise Scale
AdvancedHow Slack architects real-time messaging for millions of concurrent users while maintaining search, delivery guarantees, and the illusion of simplicity.