1.
Clarify Requirements (5-10 minutes)
- Start by clarifying the functional and non-functional requirements, asking
questions like:
- Can users create multiple color lists, or is it one list per user?
- How is access control managed (e.g., role-based or per-list)?
- What is the expected scale (number of users, list sizes, frequency of
operations)?
2. High-Level Architecture (10 minutes)
- Backend Services: Explain the core services that handle user authentication,
color list management, sharing, and access control.
- Example:
- Auth Service (JWT-based or OAuth2 for access control)
- Color List Service (CRUD operations for lists)
- Email Service (to send share links)
- APIs: Discuss RESTful API design for the key features:
- `POST /colors`: Save a color
- `DELETE /colors/{colorId}`: Delete a color
- `POST /share`: Share a list
- `PATCH /permissions`: Set access control
- Database Layer: Outline the core entities (Users, Color Lists, Shared Access,
Audit Logs).
- Data Models:
- `User (id, name, email, role)`
- `ColorList (id, userId, name, colors, access_control)`
- `SharedAccess (listId, userId, permission)`
- `AuditLogs (userId, action, timestamp)`
3. Detailed Components (10-15 minutes)
- User Actions: Describe how color list CRUD operations happen:
- A user selects colors, which are stored in a NoSQL database (optimized for quick
reads and writes).
- Deletion involves flagging colors as inactive, providing soft-deletes for
auditability.
- Access Control: Use role-based permissions to restrict access. Explain how
private lists are stored securely and only accessible to authorized users.
- Sharing Logic: Once a list is shared, emails are sent with a unique link,
enabling permissions to view/edit the list based on the recipient's user role.
4. Scaling the System (10 minutes)
- Load Balancing: Use a load balancer like NGINX or AWS ALB to distribute traffic
between multiple instances of the app for high availability.
- Database Sharding: Discuss horizontal sharding of the user-color lists if scale
increases.
- Caching: Introduce caching mechanisms (e.g., Redis) for frequently accessed color
lists or permissions to reduce database load.
- Asynchronous Processing: Implement queues (e.g., AWS SQS) to handle non-critical
tasks like sharing emails or audit log processing asynchronously.
5. Handling Non-Functional Requirements (5 minutes)
- Availability: Implement replicas and failover strategies (e.g., multi-region
deployment, database replication).
- Security: Use HTTPS for data transmission, secure storage with encryption for
sensitive data (e.g., shared list access).
- Audit Logs: Store logs to track when users add, delete, or share lists, as well
as when permissions change.
6. Database Schema Design (5 minutes)
- Sketch a simple ER diagram for the major tables (Users, Color Lists, Access
Control).
- Explain indexes on fields like `userId`, `listId` for faster queries.
7. SQL Queries (5-7 minutes)
- Retrieve all colors for a specific user:
```sql
SELECT colors FROM ColorList WHERE userId = ?;
```
- Fetch all users with access to a specific color list:
```sql
SELECT [Link] FROM Users u JOIN SharedAccess sa ON [Link] = [Link] WHERE [Link]
= ?;
```
- Most commonly saved colors across all users:
```sql
SELECT color, COUNT(*) as frequency FROM ColorList CROSS APPLY UNNEST(colors) GROUP
BY color ORDER BY frequency DESC;
```
8. Wrap-up and Trade-offs (5 minutes)
- Mention any trade-offs made, such as:
- Using NoSQL for speed vs. using SQL for transactionality.
- Handling high availability via read replicas or CDNs.
With this structure, you ensure a clear, methodical approach to the problem,
covering both breadth (high-level architecture) and depth (specific components,
database schema, and scaling strategies).
Timing Breakdown:
- Clarifications: 5-7 minutes
- High-level Architecture: 8-10 minutes
- Detailed Design of Components: 15-20 minutes
- Scalability: 8-10 minutes
- Edge Cases: 8-10 minutes
- Trade-offs: 7-10 minutes
- Conclusion: 2-3 minutes