1. Lines and paths

Role path

System / Solution Architect

Design systems that meet business goals and explain the trade-offs to everyone.

8 tools13 courses5 lines78 lessons open4 career stages49 h in total

Tools this role uses

The labs and templates for real work that the system / solution architect route opens. Use them on the job today; the courses below teach why they work.

  1. Engineer

    Station 1How the Web WorksFollow one request from a phone to a server and back, design APIs that survive real networks, and put numbers on speed, load and reliability.Beginner6 lessons3 h6 episodes
  2. Station 2SQL & Data ModelingDesign PostgreSQL tables that keep every fact in one place, write the SQL behind real reports, make queries fast with the right indexes, and keep data correct under concurrent writes and live schema changes.Beginner6 lessons4 h6 episodes

  3. Change to the Developer Foundations line

    Station 3Building APIs with Node.jsDesign and build a production-ready REST API with Node.js, TypeScript, NestJS and PostgreSQL.Intermediate6 lessons4 h6 episodes

  4. Senior engineer

    Change to the System Design line

    Station 4Scaling Building BlocksLearn the building blocks that let an app grow from one server to millions of users: load balancers, caches, object storage and CDNs, queues, rate limits and real-time updates.Intermediate7 lessons4.5 h7 episodes
  5. Station 5Databases at ScaleKeep a growing Postgres database fast, safe and recoverable with partitioning, replicas, sharding, backups, daily operations and the right extra data stores.Intermediate6 lessons3.5 h6 episodes
  6. Station 6Running Software in ProductionLearn to see what your software is doing in production, keep it secure, and ship changes safely with a rollback that takes one command.Intermediate3 lessons2 h3 episodes

  7. Change to the Cybersecurity line

    Station 7Application Security for DevelopersBuild software that resists attack: the OWASP Top 10, threat modelling, secure code review, supply chain and AI app risks.Intermediate6 lessons4 h6 episodes

  8. Architect

    Change to the System Design line

    Station 8Distributed SystemsLearn how to keep data correct and apps working when your system runs on many machines that can disagree, fail and lose touch with each other.Advanced5 lessons3 h5 episodes
  9. Station 9System Design Case StudiesLearn to run a design review, then use it on three complete case studies at Mangrove Market: a URL shortener, offline sales sync from store tills, and ordering that never oversells.Advanced4 lessons2.5 h4 episodes

  10. Change to the Architecture line

    Station 10Software and Solution ArchitectureMake and explain architecture decisions: quality attributes, styles, integration, cloud, cost and governance that lasts.Advanced7 lessons4.5 h7 episodes

  11. Principal

    Change to the System Design line

    Station 11Inside the Tech GiantsTake apart Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Uber, Amazon, Netflix, ChatGPT and Claude from public sources, rebuild the core idea of each at small scale, and learn which ideas to copy at your own size.Advanced10 lessons6.5 h10 episodes

  12. Change to the Architecture line

    Station 12Business and Enterprise ArchitectureConnect strategy to systems: capability maps, value streams, application portfolios, target states and roadmaps.Advanced6 lessons3.5 h6 episodes

  13. Change to the Business & Finance line

    Station 13Finance for Tech TeamsRead the numbers behind technology: P&L, unit economics, budgets, cloud costs, business cases and vendor deals.Beginner6 lessons3.5 h6 episodes