Designing Data-Intensive Applications

This book is a masterpiece. It connects the dots between different data systems and explains the trade-offs in distributed systems design with incredible clarity. A must-read for any backend engineer.

It also insipred me to build my own database system. Especially the chapter about storage and retrieval was very insightful and served as a good foundation in building a miniature database system. Looking forward to read the new edition of this book coming out in spring 2026.