Database Engineering & Data Systems Topics
Database design patterns, optimization, scaling strategies, storage technologies, data warehousing, and operational database management. Covers database selection criteria, query optimization, replication strategies, distributed databases, backup and recovery, and performance tuning at database layer. Distinct from Systems Architecture (which addresses service-level distribution) and Data Science (which addresses analytical approaches).
Player State and Persistence
Focuses on backend and system level strategies for storing, synchronizing, and recovering player or client state in games and similar applications. Topics include persistence architecture choices such as relational versus document or key value stores, caching strategies and distributed caches for fast access, consistency models including strong and eventual consistency, conflict detection and resolution for concurrent updates, transactional versus optimistic update patterns, snapshotting and incremental save approaches, data durability and recovery strategies, scaling and partitioning for large player populations, offline client synchronization and merge strategies, and security and privacy concerns for player data. Candidates may be asked to design an end to end save system, weigh trade offs for latency versus consistency, and propose approaches for resolving concurrent edits and ensuring durability.
Save and Persistence System Design
Design considerations for robust save and load systems, commonly used in gaming and complex stateful applications. Topics include serialization formats and versioning, backward and forward compatibility, storage strategies including cloud saves and cross platform sync, validation and corruption handling, memory and performance trade offs, and approaches for large and nested state, checkpoints, and rollback.