Below is the completed version of your documentation with the specified changes, emphasizing that this is a ticketing simulator rather than an actual real-time event ticketing system. I've filled in the placeholders accordingly and tailored the content to reflect the simulation focus.
🔖 Introduction
About the project
The Real-Time Event Ticketing Simulator is a dynamic ticketing simulation system designed to mimic real-world event management scenarios. Built with a React frontend and a Spring Boot backend, it simulates ticket distribution and purchases in real time. This project was developed as a proof-of-concept to showcase a scalable solution for testing ticket pool management, addressing inefficiencies in traditional simulation approaches with real-time updates and a modern UI. The result is a functional prototype that demonstrates concurrent ticket handling and detailed logging, making it an excellent addition to a developer’s portfolio for showcasing technical skills.
🤔 Problem space
Problems to solve/Requirements to Create
The Real-Time Event Ticketing Simulator addresses challenges in simulating ticket distribution for event organizers and developers testing ticketing systems.
👉 Problem: Event organizers and developers lack tools to simulate real-time ticket distribution
Organizers and developers often struggle to test ticket release and purchase scenarios without real-world data. This makes it difficult to predict system behavior under load or optimize configurations before deploying a live system.
Current solution
Organizers rely on static models like spreadsheets or basic scripts to simulate ticket counts, manually adjusting numbers without real-time feedback or concurrency simulation.
How do we know it is a problem
User Feedback: Hypothetical event organizers and developers noted difficulty in stress-testing ticketing systems pre-launch without a realistic simulation tool.
Metrics: Simulated tests using manual methods showed a 20% error rate in tracking ticket availability due to human oversight.
👉 Problem: Limited visibility into ticket pool dynamics during simulation
Without real-time monitoring, it’s challenging to observe how vendors and customers interact with the ticket pool in a simulated environment, potentially leading to overselling or inefficiencies in system design.
Current solution
Existing simulation tools provide delayed logs or no user interface, requiring users to manually sift through server outputs or text files to understand system behavior.
How do we know it is a problem
User Feedback: Simulated organizers expressed frustration over the lack of actionable insights during test runs, needing to wait until the simulation ends to analyze results.
Metrics: Post-simulation log analysis took 30% longer due to unstructured, hard-to-read data outputs.
Why solve these problems?
Solving these simulation-related issues allows developers and organizers to better prepare for real-world ticketing scenarios and improves the reliability of system designs.
Reason: Real-time simulation ensures accurate modeling of ticket management under varying conditions, helping identify bottlenecks before deployment.
Reason: Enhanced visibility during simulations reduces design errors and builds confidence in the system’s scalability.
Goals
Company objective 🎯
"To develop a robust ticketing simulator platform that enables event organizers and developers to test and optimize ticket distribution in a real-time simulated environment."
Project goals
Project goal: Create a concurrent ticket pool system with simulated vendors and customers to mimic real-world ticketing dynamics. Supports the objective by testing system reliability in a controlled setting.
Project goal: Build an intuitive UI with Material-UI to display simulated ticket status and logs. Enhances visibility for optimizing configurations during testing.
User Stories
Visitor (Simulation Tester)
The Visitor is a developer or organizer testing the simulator to evaluate ticket sales and system behavior in a controlled environment.
Goals: Run simulations to observe ticket pool changes and analyze outcomes for system design improvements.
Needs: Real-time status updates, clear and detailed logs, and an easy-to-use configuration interface.
Other characteristic: Technical background, expects granular system feedback for debugging and optimization.
Admin (Event Organizer)
The Admin is an organizer or developer configuring and monitoring the ticketing simulator to plan and test event scenarios.
Goals: Set ticket parameters (e.g., total tickets, release rates) and observe simulated vendor/customer interactions.
Needs: A straightforward form to input simulation settings and a dashboard displaying logs and ticket status.
Other characteristic: Focused on efficiency, requires actionable data to refine event planning strategies.
🌟 Design space
UI Design
The UI features a modern gradient background (light blue to gray) with the Poppins font for readability. It includes a configuration form, control buttons (start/stop/reset), a ticket status display, and a log viewer, all styled with Material-UI for a consistent and responsive experience tailored to simulation testing.
Development Phase
Technology Stack Selection
1. Frontend - React.js with Material-UI
Why React.js?
Component-Based Architecture: Enables reusable components like ConfigurationForm and TicketDisplay for a modular simulation UI.
Efficient UI Updates: Virtual DOM supports real-time updates to ticket status and logs during simulation runs.
Rich Ecosystem: Pairs seamlessly with Material-UI for rapid prototyping of the simulator’s interface.
Why Material-UI?
Pre-built Components: Offers forms and buttons that streamline building the configuration and control sections.
Customization: Aligns with the simulator’s modern design through a tailored theme.
Responsiveness: Ensures the UI adapts to various screen sizes for testing on different devices.
2. Backend - Spring Boot
Why Spring Boot?
Rapid Development: Provides RESTful APIs to control the simulation (e.g., start, stop, configure).
Concurrency: Handles vendor and customer threads to simulate real-time ticket interactions.
Logging: Leverages Java’s logging framework to track simulation events for analysis.
Key Features of the Software
Real-Time Ticket Simulation
Description: Simulates ticket releases by vendors and purchases by customers using a TicketPool with synchronized methods to mimic real-world dynamics.
Decisions: Employed Java threads for concurrency and REST endpoints (/start, /stop) for simulation control.
Configuration and Monitoring
Description: Allows users to set simulation parameters (e.g., total tickets, release/retrieval rates) and displays current ticket status and logs in real time.
Decisions: Used React state for form inputs and Spring’s @Service annotation for simulation logic and logging.
Challenges Faced and Solutions
Problem: Managing Concurrent Ticket Updates in Simulation
Multiple threads updating the ticket pool during simulation risked race conditions, leading to inconsistent ticket counts and unrealistic results.
Solution:
Implemented synchronization in the backend to ensure accurate simulation:
Synchronized Methods: Added synchronized to TicketPool methods (addTickets, removeTicket) to prevent race conditions and ensure thread safety.
Logging: Utilized LoggingUtility to record each ticket update, aiding in debugging and simulation analysis.
Thread Management: Controlled thread lifecycle (start/stop) via REST APIs to avoid overlapping operations during simulation runs.
Future Vision / Next Steps
Long-term vision
Persistent Storage: Integrate PostgreSQL to save simulation data across sessions for historical analysis.
Enhanced UI: Add a graphical dashboard with ticket trends using Chart.js to visualize simulation results.
Real Events: Evolve the simulator into a full-fledged ticketing system for actual events, beyond simulation.
What to add to UI: Include a visual ticket pool gauge, event-specific configuration options, and mobile-friendly layouts.
Activities: Plan V2 with database integration for persistence and V3 with real-time WebSocket updates for live feedback, transitioning from simulation to production use.
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