DSA Library Management System

A beginner-friendly Data Structures and Algorithms (DSA) project written in C++.
The project demonstrates how a singly linked list can be used to build a simple Library Management System.

Features

• Add a new book
• Remove a book using its ISBN
• Search books by title or author
• Display all books
• Check out or return a book
• Interactive console-based menu

Data Structure Used

Singly Linked List

Each book is stored in a Book node containing:

• title
• author
• isbn
• isAvailable
• Pointer to the next book

The linked list is used because books can be added and removed dynamically without requiring a fixed-size array.

Algorithms / Operations

Operation	Approach	Time Complexity
Add Book	Traverse to the end and insert a node	O(n)
Remove Book	Linear search by ISBN and unlink node	O(n)
Search Book	Linear traversal with title/author matching	O(n)
Display Books	Traverse the complete list	O(n)
Check Out / Return	Linear search by ISBN and toggle status	O(n)

Project Structure

DSA-Library-Management-System/
├── README.md
├── .gitignore
├── LICENSE
├── src/
│   └── library_management.cpp
├── tests/
│   └── sample_input.txt
└── docs/
    └── sample_output.txt

Requirements

• C++ compiler supporting C++11 or later
• Terminal / Command Prompt

Tested conceptually with standard C++ features such as iostream, string, pointers, structs, and dynamic memory.

How to Compile

Open a terminal in the project directory and run:

g++ -std=c++11 src/library_management.cpp -o library_management

How to Run

Windows

library_management.exe

Linux / macOS

./library_management

Sample Test

A sample sequence is provided in tests/sample_input.txt.
Expected output is available in docs/sample_output.txt.

The sample demonstrates:

1. Adding two books
2. Displaying the books
3. Searching for a book
4. Checking out a book
5. Removing a book
6. Displaying the remaining book

Learning Objectives

This project is designed to practice:

• Structures in C++
• Pointers
• Dynamic memory allocation
• Singly linked lists
• Traversal
• Insertion
• Deletion
• Linear searching
• Basic algorithmic complexity
• Menu-driven programming

Future Improvements

Possible extensions include:

• Preventing duplicate ISBNs
• Separate checkout and return operations
• Sorting books by title or author
• Saving records to a file
• Loading records when the program starts
• Adding automated unit tests
• Replacing the raw linked-list implementation with a reusable class

Academic Note

This repository is suitable as a beginner-level DSA academic project and portfolio demonstration. The implementation intentionally keeps the linked-list logic visible rather than hiding it behind the C++ Standard Library.

License

This project is provided for educational and portfolio use. See LICENSE.