Designing the backend system flight ticket booking application

This involves creating a robust architecture that can handle user requests, process data, interact with external services, and ensure the security and reliability of the system. Here’s a detailed breakdown while designing the backend system components and their functionalities:

Designing the backend system Web Server (e.g., Apache Tomcat, Jetty):

• The web server is responsible for handling HTTP requests from the frontend UI and routing them to the appropriate backend services.
• It hosts the backend application and provides the environment for running Java web applications.

Application Layer (Java, Spring Boot):

• The application layer consists of Java classes that handle business logic, data processing, and interactions with the database.
• Use Spring Boot to create RESTful APIs for handling various operations such as flight search, booking creation, seat selection, etc.
• Implement controllers, services, and repositories to organize the codebase and separate concerns.

Database to Use while Designing the backend system(e.g., MySQL, PostgreSQL):

• Choose a relational database management system (RDBMS) to store data related to flights, users, bookings, etc.
• Design the database schema to efficiently store and retrieve data, considering factors like normalization, indexing, and relationships between entities.

ORM Framework (e.g., Hibernate):

• Use an Object-Relational Mapping (ORM) framework like Hibernate to map Java objects to database tables and simplify database operations.
• Hibernate provides features like entity mapping, caching, and query optimization to improve performance and developer productivity.

External Services Integration:

• Integrate with external services such as payment gateways, flight availability APIs (provided by airlines), and other third-party services.
• Use HTTP client libraries in Java (e.g., Apache HttpClient, Spring RestTemplate) to communicate with external APIs and fetch relevant data.

Considering Security Layer while Designing the backend system:

• Implement security measures to protect the backend system from unauthorized access and attacks.
• Use frameworks like Spring Security to handle authentication, authorization, and protection against common security vulnerabilities.

Caching (e.g., Redis, Memcached):

• Consider using caching mechanisms to improve performance by storing frequently accessed data in memory.
• Use caching solutions like Redis or Memcached to cache flight information, user sessions, or other data that can be reused across requests.

Logging and Monitoring:

• Implement logging to record important events, errors, and transactions for monitoring and troubleshooting purposes.
• Use logging frameworks like Log4j or SLF4J to manage log output and levels.

Testing and Quality Assurance in Designing the backend system:

• Write unit tests for designing the backend system components using testing frameworks like JUnit or TestNG.
• Perform integration testing to ensure that different parts of the backend system work together as expected.
• Consider implementing automated testing and continuous integration (CI) pipelines for regular testing and deployment.

Scalability and Performance Optimization:

• Design the backend system to be scalable to handle a large number of concurrent users and transactions.
• Use techniques like load balancing, horizontal scaling, and performance optimization to ensure that the system performs well under heavy load.

Learn more about scalability of a flight booking system “Design the System Scalability of Flight booking times“

Documentation and Maintenance:

• Document the backend system architecture, APIs, database schema, and any other relevant information for future reference and maintenance.
• Include guidelines for developers to contribute to the backend codebase, follow best practices, and adhere to coding standards.

Error Handling and Recovery:

• Implement robust error handling and recovery mechanisms to handle exceptions, recover from failures, and ensure data integrity.
• Use techniques like retry policies, circuit breakers, and graceful degradation to manage errors and prevent system-wide failures.

By designing the backend system with these components and considerations in mind, you can create a reliable, secure, and efficient flight ticket booking application that meets the needs of users and can scale to handle increasing demands.