Microservices-Based Social Learning Platform
A YouTube/Udemy-like learning platform built with microservices architecture separate services for users, courses, video streaming, payments, and notifications communicating via message queues.
How to build it step by step
- 1Service Decomposition: Define service boundaries: Auth, User Profile, Course Catalog, Video Streaming, Payment, Notification
- 2Event-Driven: Kafka topics for async communication: CourseEnrolled โ triggers Welcome email, Progress update
- 3Video Pipeline: Upload to S3 โ Lambda triggers FFmpeg transcoding โ multiple resolutions โ CloudFront CDN delivery
- 4Infrastructure: Docker Compose for local dev; Kubernetes manifests for production with HPA for video service
Key features to implement
- โAdaptive video streaming (HLS with quality switching)
- โCourse progress tracking with certificates
- โLive Q&A sessions with WebRTC
- โRecommendation engine based on enrolled courses
- โComplete payment flow with Stripe
๐ก Unique twist to stand out
Implement a "Cohort Learning" feature: group students who enrolled in the same week into cohorts with shared discussion boards and a peer accountability system showing cohort progress rankings.
๐ What you'll learn
Microservices architecture, event-driven design, container orchestration, CDN video delivery, and production system design.