Software Architecture and System Design

Decompose a large system and defend the trade-offs you chose.

What the course covers

8 modules, 32 topics. Open any one to see what sits inside it.

1. 1.1 The decisions that are expensive to reverse
2. 1.2 Quality attributes and trade-offs
3. 1.3 Stakeholders and constraints
4. 1.4 The architect's role on a team
1. 2.1 Modules, boundaries and coupling
2. 2.2 Layered and hexagonal structures
3. 2.3 Monolith, modular monolith, microservices
4. 2.4 Finding the seams in a domain
1. 3.1 Synchronous calls and the risk they carry
2. 3.2 Messaging and event-driven design
3. 3.3 Contracts, versioning and compatibility
4. 3.4 Idempotency and retries
1. 4.1 Who owns which data
2. 4.2 Consistency models in practice
3. 4.3 Transactions that cross services
4. 4.4 Read models, replicas and reporting
1. 5.1 Estimating scale before you build
2. 5.2 Bottlenecks, queues and backpressure
3. 5.3 Caching strategies and invalidation
4. 5.4 Capacity planning
1. 6.1 Failure is normal: designing for it
2. 6.2 Timeouts, retries and circuit breakers
3. 6.3 Isolation and bulkheads
4. 6.4 Degraded modes
1. 7.1 Working with code you inherited
2. 7.2 Strangler patterns and incremental migration
3. 7.3 Managing technical debt deliberately
4. 7.4 Keeping architecture and code in step
1. 8.1 Diagrams at the right level of detail
2. 8.2 Design documents and decision records
3. 8.3 Running a design review
4. 8.4 One full system design, end to end

By the end of this course you will be able to explain and apply:

Two hours, not two months Eight short modules. Finish in a day, or do one module a night for a week.

Depth beyond your coursework Pitched above taught content, for research, leadership and the work that follows the degree.

Built for a phone Watch on the bus, pause mid-module, pick up where you stopped. No download, no lab.

A certificate that can be checked Every certificate carries an ID your college or an employer can verify on our site.

About two hours in total — eight modules of roughly fifteen minutes. You can do it in one sitting or spread it across a week. Your place is saved either way.
No. There is no prerequisite course and no software to install. A phone, tablet or computer with an internet connection is enough.
Yes. This course is placed at Master's Degree for India, and the content is written for that level. If you are at a different stage, change your level at the top of the page and the courses will change with it.
A certificate for the course, carrying an ID that your college or an employer can check on our verification page. You keep access to the material afterwards.
Yes — ₹450 for this course on its own, or ₹1,450 for all five in this set, which works out cheaper if you want more than one.
There is a short quiz at the end of each module so you can check what stuck. It is not timed and you can retake it.
Change your country using the picker at the top. Level names, degree names and prices all switch to that country, and the courses adjust to its education system.

Wording shown for India. Pick a different country at the top and the terms, currency and programme names change with it.