Design a Stock Exchange

1. Problem Statement

2. Architecture Discussion Map

Use this as one discussion aid, not a single correct answer. Your design should follow from the requirements, scale, and trade-offs you establish.

graph LR
    A["Design a Stock Exchange"]
    A --> F1["Order types and matching rules"]
    A --> F2["Sequencing and deterministic processing"]
    A --> F3["Market data fan-out"]
    A --> F4["Durability, replay, and audit"]
    A --> F5["Risk controls and failure recovery"]

3. Key Focus Areas

• 1
  Order types and matching rules
• 2
  Sequencing and deterministic processing
• 3
  Market data fan-out
• 4
  Durability, replay, and audit
• 5
  Risk controls and failure recovery

4. What the Interviewer Looks For

The interviewer probes these areas, and the report grades the interview against them.

• Requirements and capacity
• Sequencing and deterministic matching
• Durability, failover, and audit
• Market data distribution
• Risk controls and fairness

5. What Strong Candidates Should Demonstrate

• Separate order entry, deterministic matching, market data, and post-trade processing.
• Preserve strict ordering and auditability on the matching path.
• Reason about partitions, recovery, and fairness under low-latency constraints.