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API Design Questions

API design questions from Amazon interviews.

1h
5 problems
Topic Progress0%

API Design Questions

URL Shortener API

POST /api/shorten { longUrl } -> { shortUrl }
GET /{shortCode} -> Redirect
DELETE /api/shorten/{shortCode}

Design: Base62 encoding, collision handling, TTL, analytics.

Notification API

POST /api/notifications { userId, type, message, channel }
GET /api/notifications?userId=123
PUT /api/notifications/{id}/read

Design: Multiple channels, templates, rate limiting, delivery tracking.

Rate Limiter

Middleware: identify client -> check limit -> allow/reject
Headers: X-RateLimit-Limit, X-RateLimit-Remaining, X-RateLimit-Reset

API Design Patterns

Idempotency

Idempotency-Key header: store response, return cached on duplicate.

Bulk Operations

POST /api/users/batch { operations: [...] }
Response includes per-operation status.

Long-Running Operations

POST /api/reports/generate -> { jobId, status: "processing" }
GET /api/jobs/{id} -> { status, downloadUrl }

Webhook Pattern

POST /api/webhooks { url, events }
Event occurs -> POST to webhook with payload
X-Webhook-Signature for verification

Key Points

  • Understanding API Design Questions is essential for production systems
  • Always consider scalability and maintainability
  • Test thoroughly before deploying to production
  • Monitor performance and set up alerting

Common Patterns

  1. Validation: Always validate input at the boundary
  2. Error Handling: Use structured error responses
  3. Logging: Log key events for debugging
  4. Testing: Unit, integration, and load tests
  5. Documentation: Keep docs updated with code changes

Practice Problems

0/3solved
Implement API Design Questions

Design and implement a solution for API Design Questions in a backend system. Consider scalability, error handling, and production readiness.

Solution
// API Design Questions implementation
// Key aspects: validation, error handling, logging, testing

public class APIDesignQuestions {
    // Production-ready implementation
}
API Design Questions Edge Cases

Identify and handle edge cases for API Design Questions. What happens under high load, with invalid input, or during failures?

Solution
// Edge case handling:
// 1. Null/empty input -> validation
// 2. High load -> rate limiting, queuing
// 3. Failures -> retries, circuit breaker
// 4. Concurrent access -> locks, idempotency
API Design Questions Testing Strategy

Write a testing strategy for API Design Questions. Include unit tests, integration tests, and performance tests.

Solution
// Test plan:
// - Unit: 80% coverage target
// - Integration: API contracts
// - Performance: latency, throughput
// - Chaos: failure injection

Quiz

1. API versioning best approach?

Question 1 options

2. Header for duplicate prevention?

Question 2 options

3. What is the primary purpose of API Design Questions?

Question 3 options

4. What is a common mistake when implementing API Design Questions?

Question 4 options

Flashcards

Question

Version APIs?

Answer

URL path (/v1/) is most common

Question

Idempotency?

Answer

Same request produces same result, prevents duplicates

Question

What is API Design Questions?

Answer

API Design Questions is a key concept in backend development.

Question

When to use API Design Questions?

Answer

Use API Design Questions when building production systems that require reliability, scalability, and maintainability.

Question

API Design Questions best practices

Answer

Follow SOLID principles, write clean code, test thoroughly, document decisions, and monitor in production.

Revision Notes

Key Takeaways

  • 1.Clear resource naming and HTTP methods
  • 2.Cursor-based pagination for lists
  • 3.Idempotency for critical operations
  • 4.Bulk and async patterns for heavy ops

Interview Tips

  • Start with resources and endpoints
  • Explain versioning strategy upfront
  • Handle errors, pagination, bulk operations

Cheat Sheet

API Design Interview

  • Resources: Nouns (/users, /orders)
  • Pagination: Cursor-based preferred
  • Idempotency: Key header for critical ops
  • Versioning: URL path (/v1/)
  • Bulk: POST with operations array