System Design – APIs and Scalability
Practice system design interview questions focused on APIs and scalability. Cover REST design, rate limiting, horizontal scaling, and handling growth. Answer questions and receive feedback on trade-offs and clarity. Ideal for software engineer system design prep. First 2 questions are free with full feedback.
- Level Intermediate
- Questions 12
Try any track free — first 2 questions include full AI feedback. Subscribe to finish the track and unlock everything. Type or speak your answer — the first 2 questions include scoring and detailed AI feedback.
Sample system design – apis and scalability interview questions
Preview 6 questions from this track in quiz order. In the full quiz you answer one at a time — type or speak — then get a score and feedback.
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How would you design a REST API for a simple resource?
What a strong answer includes
Endpoints, methods, and status codes.
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What is rate limiting and why is it used?
What a strong answer includes
Protects the system from abuse or overload.
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Explain horizontal vs vertical scaling.
What a strong answer includes
Adding machines vs upgrading one machine.
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How do you handle a sudden increase in API traffic?
What a strong answer includes
Auto-scaling, caching, or rate limiting.
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What is a load balancer and where does it sit?
What a strong answer includes
Distributes requests across servers.
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How would you version an API?
What a strong answer includes
URL versioning or header versioning.