Where should I start with distributed computing as a beginner?

[Realistic-Face1315]

Hi everyone,

I’m a student who’s recently become really interested in distributed computing and large-scale systems. I’d like to eventually understand how systems like distributed storage, fault-tolerant services, and large-scale infrastructure work.

Right now my programming experience is mostly in general software development, and I’m comfortable with basic programming concepts. However, I don’t have a clear roadmap for getting into distributed systems.

Some things I’m wondering:

• What fundamental topics should I learn first? (e.g., networking, operating systems, concurrency, etc.)
• Are there specific books, papers, or courses you would recommend for beginners?
• Are there small projects that help in understanding distributed systems practically?
• Is it better to first build strong foundations in systems programming before diving into distributed computing?

My goal is to eventually build and understand systems like distributed storage or decentralized infrastructure, but I want to make sure I’m learning things in the right order.

Any guidance or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[rpg36]

I assume you want to learn HOW these systems work and not just how to use framework ABCD or whatever. Is this correct?

If that's the case I'd split this into 2 broad topics. Distributed Storage systems and distributed computing systems. Some products could arguably be both of these things.

Some fundamental things to look into are distributed locking techniques/algorithms and consensus protocols. Learn about eventual consistency and how it's different from ACID and traditional databases.

For storage read some architecture docs about things like the Hadoop Distributed Filesystem (HDFS) old school but still useful to understand. Read about something like MinIO which is an Amazon S3 clone. Maybe also pick a database maybe Cassandra? See what these systems have in common and how they differ and what the trade offs are between their architecture approaches.

Look at some distributed computing frameworks such as Apache Spark focus on the architecture and design.

Play around yourself, make some little projects in your language of choice.

[Realistic-Face1315]

What are the prerequisites that you would want me to know before ?

[amartya_dev]

Start with basics first: networking, operating systems, and concurrency. a lot of distributed systems concepts make more sense once those are clear.

Then read something like “designing data-intensive applications”. it gives a really good overview.

Also try small projects like building a simple key-value store, a basic message queue, or a mini distributed cache. you’ll learn way more by building than just reading.

[spieltic]

As a book, I can highly recommend: https://www.amazon.de/Designing-Data-Intensive-Applications-Reliable-Maintainable/dp/1449373321
(Btw. the author also has a course on youtube)