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How do you design a scalable URL shortener system in Java?

Updated May 6, 2026

Short answer

A URL shortener maps long URLs to short unique keys using a scalable storage and hashing strategy.

Deep explanation

System design includes API layer, key generation service, database (NoSQL or key-value store), caching layer (Redis), and redirect service. Key generation can use Base62 encoding or distributed ID generators like Snowflake.

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