System design patterns
Sharding, load balancing, CAP tradeoffs, and scaling patterns — interview and production ready.
Circuit Breaker Pattern in Python: Closed, Open, and Half-Open States
Implement a circuit breaker with closed, open, and half-open states to prevent repeated calls to failing services and allow recovery after a timeout.
class CircuitBreaker:
def __init__(self, failure_threshold=3, timeout_seconds=5):
self.failure_threshold = failure_threshold
self.timeout_seconds = timeout_seconds
self.state = "closed"
self.failure_count = 0
self.last_failure_time = None
def record_success(self):
…
Domain Driven Design Aggregate Root Example in Python
Model an Order as an aggregate root with invariants enforced through methods, demonstrating DDD principles in Python.
from __future__ import annotations
from dataclasses import dataclass
from typing import List, Optional
from uuid import uuid4
class Money:
def __init__(self, amount: float, currency: str = "USD"):
self.amount = amount
self.currency = currency
def __add__(self, other: Money) -> Money:
…
Facade Pattern in Python with Mock Simplification
This code demonstrates the Facade pattern by hiding complex subsystem interactions behind a simple start/stop interface, and adds a MockFacade for testing failure scenarios.
class SubsystemA:
def operation_a(self):
return "Subsystem A: ready"
class SubsystemB:
def operation_b(self):
return "Subsystem B: ready"
class SubsystemC:
def operation_c(self):
return "Subsystem C: ready"
class Facade:
def __init__(self):
self._a = SubsystemA()
…
How to Build a Pipe and Filter Text Processing Chain in Python
A functional pipe-and-filter chain that transforms text through uppercase, whitespace normalization, number removal, stopword filtering, and file export.
import re
import sys
def pipe_filter_chain(stream):
def uppercase(text):
return text.upper()
def strip_whitespace(text):
return " ".join(text.split())
def remove_numbers(text):
return re.sub(r"\d+", "", text)
def remove_stopwords(text, stopwords={"the", "and", "of", "in"}):…
How to implement saga orchestration with compensating steps in Python
Orchestrate a distributed transaction across services, rolling back completed steps with compensations when a later step fails.
class InventoryService:
def reserve(self, order_id):
print(f"[Inventory] Reserving stock for order {order_id}")
return True
def compensate(self, order_id):
print(f"[Inventory] Releasing stock for order {order_id}")
class PaymentService:
def charge(self, order_id):
print(f…
How to implement stale-while-revalidate caching in Python
A Python cache wrapper that returns a stale cached value with a fallback flag when the upstream fetch fails, using TTL-based freshness checks.
import time
from functools import lru_cache
class CachedService:
def __init__(self, fetch_func, ttl=5):
self.fetch_func = fetch_func
self.ttl = ttl
self._cache = {}
self._timestamp = {}
def get(self, key):
now = time.time()
if key in self._cache and now - self…
Implement Bulkhead Thread Pool Isolation in Python
Create isolated thread pools with a bulkhead pattern to protect different services from cascading failures.
import threading
import time
import random
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor
class Bulkhead:
"""Simple bulkhead isolation: separate thread pools for different tasks."""
def __init__(self, max_workers):
self.executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_workers)
self.active = …
Mock Unit of Work commit and rollback in Python
Verify that a Unit of Work pattern commits on success and rolls back on failure using unittest.mock in Python.
from unittest import mock
class UnitOfWork:
def __init__(self):
self.committed = False
self.rolled_back = False
def commit(self):
self.committed = True
print("Commit executed")
def rollback(self):
self.rolled_back = True
print("Rollback executed")
def b…
Simulate a Leaky Bucket Rate Limiter in Python
This code implements a leaky bucket rate limiter that drains at a fixed rate and accepts or rejects incoming requests based on capacity.
import time
from collections import deque
class LeakyBucket:
"""Simulates a leaky bucket rate limiter with a fixed drain rate."""
def __init__(self, capacity, drain_rate_per_sec):
self.capacity = capacity
self.drain_rate = drain_rate_per_sec
self.water = 0.0
self.last_refill =…
Browse by section
Each section groups closely related Python snippets.
System design patterns — Python code examples
What you will find here
This page collects system design patterns snippets — short, copy-ready Python you can paste into our free online IDE and run without installing anything. Each sample includes a plain-English explanation and the full source code.
Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.