What are the top system design interview questions for Meta interview?
When preparing for a system design interview at Meta (formerly Facebook), candidates should be ready to discuss large-scale systems and demonstrate a deep understanding of various technical aspects. Here are some of the top system design interview questions that are commonly asked in Meta interviews:
Design a Global File Storage and Sharing Service Like Dropbox or Google Drive
Candidates are expected to discuss the architecture required to support file uploads, storage, downloads, and sharing on a global scale. Key points include data synchronization, efficiency in handling large files, and consistency across different regions.
Design a Real-time Messaging System Like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger
This question tests a candidate's ability to design a system that can handle real-time data transmission efficiently. Important considerations include handling high throughput, ensuring low latency, and maintaining message order and delivery guarantees.
Design an Efficient Notification System
Meta requires a robust notification system for its applications. This question explores the candidate's approach to designing a system that can send notifications to millions of users simultaneously without significant delays.
Design a Social Media Feed
Candidates need to demonstrate how they would design a system like Facebook's news feed, where content is dynamically generated based on user connections, preferences, and activity. Key challenges include content ranking algorithms, feed personalization, and performance optimization.
Design a Video Streaming Service Like Facebook Live
This question assesses the candidate’s ability to design a system for live video streaming. It requires understanding of video compression, streaming protocols, and handling high traffic volumes with minimal latency.
Design an API Rate Limiter
Discussing the design of an API rate limiter involves ensuring that the system can gracefully handle bursts of requests and prevent abuse. Candidates should cover algorithms like Token Bucket or Leaky Bucket, as well as distributed rate limiting strategies.
Design a Graph Search Functionality
This involves creating a system capable of handling complex graph-related queries, such as finding the shortest path between two nodes. This is relevant for features like Facebook's "How You Know This Person" or LinkedIn's connection path features.
Design a System to Serve Ads
This question is crucial for a company like Meta that relies heavily on advertising revenue. The system must select relevant ads for users based on various criteria and ensure high performance and scalability.
Design an Online Photo Storage System
Candidates will discuss designing a system that handles large-scale photo uploads, efficient retrieval, and metadata tagging. Considerations include storage options, indexing for quick search, and privacy controls.
Design a Leaderboard System for Games
For social gaming platforms, designing a leaderboard that updates in real-time and handles millions of users is essential. This requires efficient data structures to maintain sorted scores and quick updates.
These questions reflect Meta's focus on real-world, large-scale problems, emphasizing not just technical design but also the impact on user experience and system scalability. Preparing for these questions involves a deep dive into each problem's specific requirements and constraints, demonstrating a thoughtful and well-rounded approach to system design.
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