Design a Stock Exchange
Design a Stock Exchange — A Staff playbook focused on matching engine architecture, FIFO ordering guarantees, low-latency financial system tradeoffs, and trade reconciliation at scale — not just order book data structures.
This playbook is part of the full calibration library.
Staff interviews are decided on nuance — tradeoff framing, ownership boundaries, and failure anticipation. This playbook covers the depth that separates Senior from Staff+.
What's inside this playbook
Core sections
- •1. The Staff Lens
- •2. Problem Framing & Intent
- •3. Fault Lines
- •4. Fault Lines (Continued)
- •5. Evaluation Rubric
- •6. Interview Flow & Pivots
- •7. Drills
- •8. Deep Dive Scenarios
- •9. Level Expectations Summary
- •10. Staff Insiders: Controversial Opinions
Appendices
- •Appendix A: Order Matching Decision Tree
- •Appendix B: Exchange System Component Reference
- •Appendix C: Order Book Data Structures
- •Appendix D: Market Data Distribution
- •Appendix E: Exchange Architecture Patterns
- •Appendix F: Risk and Circuit Breaker Integration
Practice & Reference
- •How to Use This Playbook
- •Executive Summary
- •System Architecture Overview
- •Interview Walkthrough: How to Present This in 45 Minutes