Welcome to Pico! You'll find articles here that explain computer systems by reviewing research papers.
I focus on key areas like datastores, big data, operating systems, and distributed systems – these are the important parts of modern computing. These articles are based on notes I took while reading over 100 research papers. I believe that the best way to deeply understand system design is by studying these foundational papers. I wanted to create something more detailed and insightful than an AI summary.
If you're new to this, I recommend reading the articles in the order I've listed. This order helps you build your understanding step by step, from simpler to more complex ideas. It's helpful to have some basic computer systems knowledge, like what you learned in college. A quick review of those concepts might be useful before you start.
The ideas in these papers are connected. You'll find that ideas from different papers often relate to each other, so you might need to go back and forth between articles to fully understand them. You might not understand every detail the first time, but by reading all the articles, you'll gain a solid understanding of the concepts. It's normal to reread articles as you learn. By the end, you'll have a strong, connected understanding of all the ideas.