Summary: Designing a Library Management System

Now that you’ve completed the library management system case study, let’s take a moment to reflect on and consolidate what we’ve learned. We’ll revisit the key system requirements, identify the core classes along with their responsibilities and relationships, and highlight the major design principles applied. We’ll also examine how objects interact within the system and walk through the overall workflow to understand how the components come together to achieve the desired functionality.

Key requirements

This section outlines the primary functional requirements that define the scope and capabilities of the Library Management system.

1. Store and log all information about books, members, and transactions (borrowing, returns, reservations, renewals).

2. Ensure every book has a unique ID and detailed information, including its physical location.

3. Include each book’s ISBN, title, author, subject, and publication date.

4. Support each book title’s multiple physical copies (book items).

5. Define two user roles: librarian and member, each with a unique library card.

6. Require every user to have a library card with a unique number.

7. Limit members to borrowing a maximum of 10 books at one time.

8. Set the maximum borrowing period for a book to 15 days. ...