Library Management System

A console-based Java application for managing a personal book collection. Supports data loading, persistence, multiple sorting algorithms, keyword search, and detailed user-interaction logging.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Project Structure
• Usage
• Configuration
• Logging
• Serialization
• Sorting Algorithms
• Future Improvements

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Features

• Automatic Data Loading: On startup, attempts to load library.ser; falls back to CSV (books.txt) if missing.

• View & Search: Display all books or locate by title, author, or publication year.

• Sort Options:

  • Title (Bubble Sort)
  • Author (Insertion Sort)
  • Year (Quick Sort)

• Persistence: Save and load book list using Java serialization.

• Interaction Logging: Timestamped logs of all user actions.

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Prerequisites

• Java Development Kit (JDK) 8 or higher
• Git (for repository setup)
• Terminal or command prompt

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Project Structure

├── resources/
│   └── data/
│       ├── books.txt               # CSV dataset: Title,Author,Year
│       ├── library.ser             # Serialized library (auto-generated)
│       └── user_interactions.log   # Append-only log file
├── src/
│   ├── Main.java
│   ├── Book.java
│   ├── Library.java
│   ├── LibraryMenu.java
│   ├── LibrarySerializer.java
│   ├── SortUtil.java
│   └── UserInteractionLogger.java
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

Usage

After launch, use the numbered menu:

=== Main Menu ===
1. View All Books
2. Sort Books by Title
3. Sort Books by Author
4. Sort Books by Year
5. Search for a Book
6. Exit

• View All Books: Lists every book with title, author, year.
• Sort: Choose criterion to reorder the list.
• Search: Enter a keyword (partial or full match).
• Exit: Saves state, logs action, and closes.

Example Session:

Enter choice: 5
Enter keyword: Tolkien
Book found: Book{title='The Hobbit', author='J.R.R. Tolkien', publicationYear=1937}

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Configuration

• books.txt: Each line Title,Author,Year (e.g., 1984,George Orwell,1949).
• Paths: Data files located under resources/data/.
• Log File: resources/data/user_interactions.log.

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Logging

UserInteractionLogger writes entries to user_interactions.log:

2025-07-10T15:30:12 - Viewed all books
2025-07-10T15:32:07 - Search for: "Hobbit"

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Serialization

Handled by LibrarySerializer:

• saveLibrary(List<Book>, String): Serialize book list.
• loadLibrary(String): Deserialize or return null if not found.

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Sorting Algorithms

Criterion	Algorithm	Avg. Complexity
Title	Bubble Sort	O(n²)
Author	Insertion Sort	O(n²)
Year	Quick Sort	O(n log n)

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Future Improvements

• Add interactive CRUD (create/update/delete).
• Develop a GUI (Swing/JavaFX).
• Support database integration (SQL/NoSQL).
• Enhance search (multi-criteria, partial matching).
• Enable export (JSON, XML, CSV).