BookMyShow System Design

Introduction

Ticket booking platforms like BookMyShow handle millions of users booking tickets for movies, events, and shows. The system must manage inventory, prevent double bookings, and handle high traffic during popular events.

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Problem Statement

How can we design a ticket booking system that manages seat inventory, prevents overbooking, and scales to handle flash sales?

System Requirements

• Real-time seat availability and booking.
• Payment processing and confirmation.
• Scalability for high-traffic events.
• Notifications and reminders.
• Fraud prevention and security.

High-Level Design

The system consists of:

• Frontend: User interface for browsing and booking.
• Backend Services: Inventory, booking, payment, and notification services.
• Database: Stores events, seats, bookings, and user data.
• Cache: Stores seat availability for fast access.

Key Components

• Inventory Management: Tracks seat availability and locks seats during booking.
• Atomic Transactions: Ensures seats are not double-booked.
• Payment Gateway Integration: Handles payments securely.
• Queue: Manages booking requests during high demand.

Challenges

• Concurrency: Preventing double bookings under heavy load.
• Scalability: Handling spikes in traffic for popular events.
• Reliability: Ensuring bookings are confirmed and payments processed.
• User Experience: Fast, responsive interface.

Example Technologies

• Databases: MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis.
• Queue: RabbitMQ, Kafka.
• Payment: Razorpay, Stripe.

Conclusion

A ticket booking platform requires robust inventory management, atomic transactions, and scalable infrastructure. By focusing on concurrency control and user experience, you can deliver a reliable booking service.