SQL vs NoSQL in System Design Interviews: Why Engineering Judgment Matters

If you’ve ever said this in a system design interview: > “SQL doesn’t scale, so I’ll use NoSQL” There’s a good chance the interviewer quietly downgraded you. Not because NoSQL is wrong. But because th

If you’ve ever said this in a system design interview: > “SQL doesn’t scale, so I’ll use NoSQL” There’s a good chance the interviewer quietly downgraded you. Not because NoSQL is wrong. But because that sentence shows memorized opinions, not engineering judgment. Before we go deeper, quick context. I’m documenting how system design interviews actually work based on real prep and feedback. I write one system design article daily on LeetCode, and I organize deeper explanations here: 👉 <a href="https://www.cracksystemdesign.com/.