High-level design.
also: HLD · high level designThe big-picture design: which components exist, how they connect, how data flows and why each technology was chosen.
the two-minute refresher
- HLD answers: what are we building and how do the pieces fit together?
- It covers the architecture diagram, the components and their jobs, the data flow, technology choices and the scaling strategy.
- Boxes and arrows, not code: the audience is architects, stakeholders and the interviewer.
- In an interview it takes most of the time; start here, then deep-dive (LLD) where the interviewer points.