This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Abdulfatai Abdulwasiu Aremu
I explained System Design to my friend using a pizza shop 
Turns out it’s the easiest way to get Scalability, Latency, Throughput, Consistency, and Availability!
1 Scalability – More chefs, more pizzas
@RestController
class PizzaController {
@GetMapping("/order")
String orderPizza() { return "🍕 Pizza ready!"; }
}
1 instance = 10 orders/min
10 instances = 100 orders/min
2 Latency – How long until your pizza arrives?
@GetMapping("/order")
String orderPizza() throws InterruptedException {
Thread.sleep(3000); // 3 sec delay
return "🍕 Pizza ready after wait!";
}
Delays = unhappy customers
3 Throughput – Pizzas per minute
Run a load test:
ab -n 1000 -c 50 http://localhost:8080/order
One endpoint, but throughput depends on kitchen “power.”
4 Consistency – Pizza means pizza
@RestController
class PizzaController {
@GetMapping("/order")
String orderPizza() {
return Math.random() > 0.7 ? "🍝 Pasta?" : "🍕 Pizza";
}
}
Users want the same result every time!
5 Availability – Always open
@GetMapping("/health")
String health() { return "✅ I’m alive!"; }
Service stays open, even if one instance crashes.
Takeaway
System design is like running a pizza shop
- Scalability → more chefs
- Latency → wait time
- Throughput → orders per min
- Consistency → pizza = pizza
- Availability → always open
What’s your favorite system design analogy?
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Abdulfatai Abdulwasiu Aremu