Backend and APIs
Your designs run on top of these patterns. Knowing them helps you design loading, error and empty states that match what the system can actually do.
Not yet reviewedLevel
Terms
- IntermediateRate LimitingA technique to control the rate of incoming and outgoing traffic to or from a network or API service.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateLoad BalancingDistributing incoming network traffic across multiple backend servers to ensure high availability and responsiveness.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateReverse ProxiesAn intermediate server that forwards client requests to downstream web servers, providing security, load balancing, and SSL termination.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateAPI GatewaysA management tool that sits between a client and a collection of backend microservices, managing routing, auth, and rate limits.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateService DiscoveryThe automatic detection of devices and services offered by a network, enabling dynamic IP and port resolution.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateCircuit BreakersA design pattern used to detect failures and encapsulate the logic of preventing a failure from constantly recurring during maintenance or outages.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerTimeoutsA maximum specified time interval during which a response is expected from a network request or function execution before aborting.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerRetriesAutomatically repeating a failed network request or operation under the assumption that the failure is temporary.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateExponential BackoffAn algorithm that increases the wait time between retries exponentially to avoid overwhelming a recovering server.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateIdempotencyA property of certain operations in mathematics and computer science whereby they can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateMessage QueuesAn asynchronous service-to-service communication mechanism used in serverless and microservices architectures.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediatePub/SubA messaging pattern where senders (publishers) push messages to topics without knowing who the receivers (subscribers) are.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateEvent-Driven ArchitectureA software architecture paradigm promoting the production, detection, consumption of, and reaction to events.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateDistributed TransactionsA set of operations on data performed across two or more distinct, networked databases or microservices.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateSaga PatternA sequence of local transactions where each transaction updates data within a single service and triggers compensating transactions upon failure.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateBackpressureA strategy for managing data flows where a receiving system signals the sending system to slow down data transmission.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateAutoscalingDynamically adjusting computational resources based on load and demand.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerHorizontal ScalingScaling out by adding more machines or nodes to a pool of resources.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerVertical ScalingScaling up by adding more power (CPU, RAM) to an existing machine.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateDatabase MigrationsControlled, versioned changes made to a database structure over time.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateSchema VersioningTracking structural changes to databases or APIs to maintain backward compatibility across software releases.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateFailoverAutomatically switching operational duties to a standby secondary system when the primary system fails.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateMulti-Region DeploymentDeploying cloud applications across multiple geographic regions to improve latency and system fault tolerance.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateServerless LimitsArchitectural thresholds imposed by serverless providers on memory execution duration, payload size, or concurrency.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateNetwork PartitionsA communication break or failure between nodes in a network, causing nodes to split into isolated groups.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateClock SkewThe discrepancy in time between clocks on different computer systems in a network.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerDNSDomain Name System: a hierarchical system translating human-readable domain names to numerical IP addresses.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerTCP vs UDPTCP is reliable and connection-oriented; UDP is connectionless and prioritized for speed over reliability.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateHTTP/2 & HTTP/3Modern web protocol standards enabling features like request multiplexing and QUIC transport to speed up content delivery.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediategRPCA high-performance, open-source universal RPC framework built on top of Protocol Buffers and HTTP/2.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerWebhooksAutomated HTTP callbacks triggered by events in a source system to send real-time data to a target system.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateAPI VersioningManaging changes to API definitions to ensure backward compatibility for clients.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateDead Letter QueuesA secondary queue used to isolate and store messages that cannot be processed successfully after multiple retries.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerCron JobsTime-based job schedulers in automated operating environments used to run commands or scripts at fixed times or intervals.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateDatabase IndexingCreating specialized index structures (like B-Trees) on database columns to accelerate data lookup speeds.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateQuery OptimizationThe process of modifying database queries and execution plans to run as efficiently as possible with minimal resource usage.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateN+1 QueriesA common ORM performance problem where an application executes 1 initial query followed by N additional queries to fetch related data.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateConnection PoolingMaintaining a reusable pool of active database connections to eliminate the overhead of repeatedly opening and closing connections.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateRead ReplicasSecondary database nodes that continuously copy data from the primary database to offload read-heavy workloads.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateShardingA type of database partitioning that separates large databases into smaller, faster, more manageable pieces called shards across nodes.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediatePartitioningDividing a large database table into smaller, independent logical parts within a single database instance.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerReplicationThe frequent or ongoing copying of data from one database node to another to maintain consistency and high availability.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateLeader ElectionA mechanism in distributed systems to designate a single master/leader node responsible for coordinating actions across worker nodes.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerCAP TheoremA theorem stating that a distributed system can simultaneously provide at most two of three guarantees: Consistency, Availability, Partition Tolerance.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerEventual ConsistencyA consistency model used in distributed systems where updates to data will eventually reach all nodes given enough time.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateOptimistic LockingA concurrency control method that assumes multiple transactions can complete without affecting each other, verifying record version before write.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediatePessimistic LockingA concurrency control strategy where a record is explicitly locked when read to prevent any other process from changing it until finished.Not yet reviewed
- IntermediateDistributed LocksA technique to coordinate mutually exclusive access to shared resources across independent nodes or microservices.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerRace ConditionsA flaw in concurrent systems where the output is unexpectedly dependent on the sequence or timing of uncontrollable execution steps.Not yet reviewed
- BeginnerDeadlocksA situation where two or more competing actions are each waiting for the other to finish, preventing any from completing.Not yet reviewed
Articles
API gateway pattern
The pattern behind single entry points, with benefits and drawbacks.
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