Build a URL Shortener

base62 codes and Snowflake IDs

Challenge 7 of Storage & CachingIntermediate~45 min

Build a bit.ly from the ground up: Base62 encoding to turn ids into short codes, an auto-incrementing shortener with expand, custom aliases with collision handling, a Snowflake-style distributed id generator, and click analytics with link expiry.

5 steps

  1. 1Base62 Encoding
  2. 2The Shortener
  3. 3Custom Aliases
  4. 4Snowflake IDs
  5. 5Clicks and Expiry
Start step 1