Event Management Simulator

A simulation of an event and ticket management system built with C++ and key design patterns to showcase OOP architecture.
This project models a Ticketmaster-style system where users can act as attendees or organizers, create events, buy or sell tickets, and track balances handled through a CLI menu interface.

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Overview

The core of this system revolves around object-oriented design and architecture.
It’s built to demonstrate real software structure using:

• Inheritance and polymorphism across event and user hierarchies
• Factory pattern for dynamic event creation
• Singleton pattern for centralized event management
• Encapsulation and abstraction to isolate logic cleanly
• CSV-Parsing and loading
• Catch2 testing for automated validation of key features

Everything ties together through an EventManager singleton that controls program flow, tracks users, manages events, and handles all financial logic (balances, profits, and ticket status updates).

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CLI Interface

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Features

• Create new Attendee or Organizer accounts
• Organizers can create events of various types (Concerts, Sports, Theater, Conventions, Comedy)
• Attendees can:
  • Browse available events
  • Purchase or resell tickets
  • View purchase history
  • Manage balance and add funds
• Ticket inventory and availability update dynamically
• System tracks organizer earnings and platform profit

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Design Patterns Used

• Factory Pattern:
  Used in EventFactory to handle dynamic event creation from user input or CSV files.
  Keeps client code clean and decoupled from specific event subclasses.

• Singleton Pattern:
  Implemented in EventManager to maintain a single controller instance that manages global system state.

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Structure

Each part of the system has a clear role:

• Event hierarchy: defines data models and shared behavior
• EventFactory: central object creator
• EventManager: controls system flow and logic
• User classes: define attendee and organizer roles
• StringFunctions: utility for parsing input and CSV data
• Catch2 tests: validate functionality and architecture

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Build & Run

To build and run the main program:

make
./main

To run the test suite:

make test
./test

To clean build files:

make clean

Future Plans

Future Full-Stack Expansion Roadmap

1. Architecture Expansion

• Add support for user accounts with usernames, password hashes, emails, and roles/permissions.
• Introduce additional metadata fields for events and users as needed for expanded functionality.

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2. Input Validation & Security

• Remove CLI-driven input and replace it with structured validation rules.
• Add robust checks for all user and event fields (length limits, allowed characters, date validation, ticket quantity rules, etc.).
• Implement secure password hashing and safe authentication handling.

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3. Database Integration

• Migrate from CSV storage to a relational database (SQLite or PostgreSQL).
• Create a normalized schema for Users, Events, Tickets, and Transactions.
• Implement complete CRUD operations for all entities.
• Add indexing for performance on common queries.

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4. API Layer

• Expose system functionality through REST API endpoints.
• Add authentication endpoints (register, login, logout).
• Structure routes using clean separation between domain logic and request handling.
• Introduce proper error responses and status codes.

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5. Minimal Frontend

• Build a lightweight interface for verifying API functionality.
• Include basic pages for login, event browsing, event creation, and ticket management.
• Use simple forms and minimal styling to validate full-stack behavior.

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6. Deployment

• Containerize backend and API services using Docker.
• Deploy the application to AWS (ECS, EC2, or similar).
• Configure environment variables, HTTPS, logging, and production settings.
• Set up CI/CD through GitHub Actions.

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7. Full Frontend Experience

• Expand the UI into a polished interface using a modern framework (React, Vue, or Svelte).
• Add routing, authentication flow, form validation, and responsive layouts.
• Improve error handling, loading states, and overall user experience.

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8. Logging, Monitoring & Testing

• Implement request/response logging and error logging.
• Add audit trails for key operations (event creation, purchases, account updates).
• Write unit tests and integration tests for all API endpoints.
• Conduct load testing for high-traffic workflows.

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9. Feature Expansion

• Add event search, filtering, and sorting capabilities.
• Build admin tools for creating and managing events and users.
• Integrate the existing recommendation engine to provide personalized event suggestions.
• Support recurring events, categories, and advanced scheduling options.

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