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:
…
How to Build an Append-Only Event Store in Python
Implement a simple append-only event store class that stores events in a list and supports retrieval by index range.
class EventStore:
def __init__(self):
self._events = []
def append(self, event):
"""Append an event to the store."""
self._events.append(event)
def get_events(self, start=0, end=None):
"""Return events from start index to end (exclusive)."""
return self._events[sta…
How to Build an Immutable Money Value Object in Python
Implement an immutable Money class with rounded decimal amounts, currency, safe equality, and hashing for use as a value object.
class Money:
def __init__(self, amount: float, currency: str):
object.__setattr__(self, "_amount", round(amount, 2))
object.__setattr__(self, "_currency", currency)
def __setattr__(self, name, value):
raise AttributeError(f"Money is immutable: cannot set '{name}'")
def __delattr__…
How to Implement the Abstract Factory Pattern in Python
Implements the Abstract Factory pattern to create families of related GUI objects (buttons, checkboxes) without specifying their concrete classes.
from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
class Button(ABC):
@abstractmethod
def render(self):
pass
class Checkbox(ABC):
@abstractmethod
def render(self):
pass
class WindowsButton(Button):
def render(self):
return "Rendering Windows-style button"
class WindowsCheckbox(Chec…
How to Implement the Flyweight Pattern in Python
Implements the Flyweight design pattern to share immutable intrinsic state (character + font) across many document objects, reducing memory usage.
class Character:
"""Flyweight - stores only intrinsic state (shared)."""
def __init__(self, char: str, font: str):
self.char = char
self.font = font
def render(self, size: int) -> str:
return f"{self.char}_{self.font}_{size}"
class CharacterFactory:
"""Flyweight factory - ma…
How to Mock a Timeout per Dependency Call in Python
This code demonstrates how to simulate and test per-call timeouts for external dependencies using Python's unittest.mock and a simple timing wrapper.
```python
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def call_dependency(dependency, timeout):
start = time.time()
result = dependency.call()
elapsed = time.time() - start
if elapsed > timeout:
raise TimeoutError(f"Dependency call took {elapsed:.2f}s, exceeding timeout {timeout}s")
…
Implement a Consistent Hash Ring in Python
Build a minimal consistent hash ring with virtual nodes to map keys to servers stably as nodes are added or removed.
import hashlib
import bisect
class ConsistentHashRing:
def __init__(self, nodes=None, replicas=3):
self.replicas = replicas
self.ring = {}
self.sorted_keys = []
if nodes:
for node in nodes:
self.add_node(node)
def _hash(self, key):
return i…
Round Robin Load Balancer in Python
This code simulates round robin load balancing by distributing a list of requests evenly across a list of servers.
def round_robin_servers(requests: list[str], servers: list[str]) -> dict[str, list[str]]:
assignments = {server: [] for server in servers}
for idx, request in enumerate(requests):
server = servers[idx % len(servers)]
assignments[server].append(request)
return assignments
if __name__ == "_…
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 =…
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