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API Rate Limiting & Scalability Patterns · Lesson

Sliding Window Counter Strategy

Learn about the Sliding Window Counter, a more memory-efficient approach that approximates the log method for practical use.

Intro to Sliding Window Counter

Welcome to our lesson on the Sliding Window Counter (SWC) algorithm!

This algorithm is a clever way to implement rate limiting. It aims to offer better accuracy than the simple Fixed Window Counter, while being more memory-efficient than the precise Sliding Window Log.

Fixed Window's Flaw

Recall that the Fixed Window Counter can suffer from a 'burst' problem. If a user makes requests right at the end of one window and then again right at the start of the next, they can effectively double their allowed requests in a short period.

The Sliding Window Counter helps to mitigate this issue.

All lessons in this course

  1. Sliding Window Log Implementation
  2. Sliding Window Counter Strategy
  3. Algorithm Comparison and Trade-offs
  4. Sliding Window with Sorted Sets in Redis
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