Common Problems
Design a Collaborative Document Editor like Google Docs
Understanding the Problem
In this writeup we'll design a system that supports the core functionality of Google Docs, dipping into websockets and collaborative editing systems. We'll start with the requirements (like a real interview), then move on to complete the design following our Delivery Framework.
Functional Requirements
Core Requirements
- Users should be able to create new documents.
- Multiple users should be able to edit the same document concurrently.
- Users should be able to view each other's changes in real-time.
- Users should be able to see the cursor position and presence of other users.
Below the line (out of scope)
- Sophisticated document structure. We'll assume a simple text editor.
- Permissions and collaboration levels (e.g. who has access to a document).
- Document history and versioning.
Non-Functional Requirements
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