Backend & Systems Guild: Designing Data-Intensive Applications [Ch. 2]

PDX Women Coders' Backend & Systems Guild is a long-running study group working through Martin Kleppmann's Designing Data-Intensive Applications, second edition. This session covers Chapter 2, Defining Nonfunctional Requirements. The group meets every two weeks at 10 AM Pacific over Zoom, pacing roughly one chapter per session across seven to eight months. Discussions dig into distributed systems, storage engines, replication and partitioning, and the trade-offs behind scalable architecture, with plenty of room for questions from engineers who are newer to backend work. Reading the chapter beforehand is encouraged but not required, and attendance is open to anyone who supports the group's mission regardless of gender. A good fit for backend and platform engineers, data engineers, and anyone who wants a structured, low-pressure way to level up on systems design alongside other Portland-area developers. The Zoom link is shared with registered attendees.