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Design a Calendar / Scheduling Application

System design for Google Calendar–style apps: day/week/month views, event overlap handling, drag to create/resize, recurring events, timezones, and multi-calendar overlay.

Frontend DigestFebruary 20, 20266 min read

Designing a calendar and scheduling application is a complex frontend system design problem. It involves date/time handling, layout algorithms for overlapping events, drag interactions, and performance with dense event sets. Here's a structured approach.

Requirements Clarification

Functional Requirements

  • Views: Day view (hourly slots), week view (7 columns), month view (grid of days with event pills).
  • Event rendering: Display events with correct time placement; handle overlapping events with side-by-side or stacked layout.
  • Drag to create: Click-and-drag on empty time to create a new event.
  • Drag to resize: Drag event bottom edge to extend duration.
  • Drag to move: Drag event to new time slot.
  • Recurring events: Support daily, weekly, monthly patterns; show instances or expand in view.
  • Timezone handling: Display events in user's local timezone; support multi-timezone calendars.
  • Multi-calendar overlay: Toggle visibility of multiple calendars (work, personal); color-coding.
  • Date navigation: Prev/next buttons, today shortcut, optional date picker jump.

Non-Functional Requirements

  • Performance: Render 100+ events in week view without lag; virtualize month view if needed.
  • Responsiveness: Week view scrolls horizontally on mobile; day view stacks.
  • Accessibility: Keyboard navigation for creating, moving, resizing events; screen reader announcements for dates and events.
  • Consistency: Use a single date library (date-fns, Day.js, or Luxon) to avoid timezone bugs.

High-Level Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  CalendarApp                                                                 │
│  ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Toolbar: ViewSelector | NavControls | CalendarFilters | TimezonePicker │  │

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