Rate Limiter: System Design Interview Question (2026 Guide)

🚀 Want to crack your next Tier-1 System Design Interview? In this comprehensive video, we break down how to design a highly scalable Rate Limiter from scratch—a classic question frequently asked by top-tier financial tech firms and FAANG companies in 2026.

Whether you are prepping for senior engineering roles, cracking Java backend interviews, or building high-performance microservices, mastering rate-limiting algorithms is an absolute must. We go deep into real-world engineering trade-offs, handling scale, and implementing the 5 most critical algorithms step-by-step.

👇 Reference Link & Reading Material:
Check out the excellent breakdown on ByteByteGo for a visual reference:
https://bytebytego.com/courses/system-design-interview/design-a-rate-limiter

📌 Video Timestamps & Topics Covered:
0:00 - Introduction to Rate Limiter
Explains what a rate limiter is, its purpose in system architecture, and where to implement it (e.g., API Gateway in microservices or Interceptors in monolithic apps).

5:04 - Token Bucket Algorithm
A popular algorithm that uses a bucket with a fixed capacity and a refill rate, allowing for short bursts of traffic.

15:26 - Leaky Bucket Algorithm
Similar to token bucket but processes requests at a steady, fixed rate using a FIFO queue.

19:41 - Fixed Window Counter Algorithm
Uses a time window with a counter to track requests; includes a discussion on the limitation regarding traffic spikes at the window edges.

24:36 - Sliding Window Log Algorithm
A highly accurate approach that maintains a log of request timestamps, typically using Redis for storage.

29:56 - Sliding Window Counter Algorithm
A hybrid approach combining fixed window and sliding window log concepts to smooth out traffic spikes.

If you found this system design breakdown helpful, don't forget to LIKE this video, SHARE it with your tech community, and SUBSCRIBE for more deep dives into backend architecture, Java interview prep, and high-scale systems!

#SystemDesign #RateLimiter #SoftwareEngineering #BackendDevelopment #CodingInterview #TechInterview #TokenBucket #SystemDesignInterview #JavaBackend #Microservices #DistributedSystems #FAANGPreparation #JavaInterview #Java8InterviewQuestions #SystemDesignAlgorithms #Scalability #APIPerformance

Видео Rate Limiter: System Design Interview Question (2026 Guide) канала MJ's BACKEND BOOTCAMP