System Design: Real-Time Chat Application (WhatsApp/Slack)

Design a real-time chat system for 500M users — WebSocket connections, message delivery guarantees, presence indicators, push notifications.

·

Mastering system design requires both breadth and depth.

If you're new to system design interviews, start with our system design interview framework.

Senior candidates face a higher bar — see our guide on system design for senior engineers.

Understanding distributed systems fundamentals is essential for senior-level design rounds.

Related reading: Coding Interview Patterns Deep Dive: Master the 15 Patterns.

For more on Slack real-time architecture, see our Slack real-time architecture guide.

Related Reading

Explore Related Topics