🦁 Java Zoo App

A simple console-based zoo management system built in Java, designed to demonstrate core Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) principles.

🎓 Developed as part of an academic assignment during my MSc in Informatics.

🧰 Features

• Add new animals (Lion, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippo) to the zoo
• Search animals by name or code
• Remove animals by code
• Feed animals (interface-based polymorphic behavior)
• Save/load animal data using Java serialization

💡 Object-Oriented Concepts Demonstrated

• Abstract Classes & Inheritance: A generic animal abstract class with subclasses (lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe)
• Interfaces: IFeedAnimal interface implemented differently per animal
• Encapsulation: Private fields with getters/setters
• Polymorphism: Overridden toString() and feedAnimal() behavior
• Serialization: Saving/loading objects via zoo_animals.ser

🔧 Technologies Used

• Java 17+
• Java Serialization
• Console I/O

📦 How to Run

1. Clone the repository
2. Compile with any Java IDE
3. Run the SerializationActions class to use the zoo app

🖥️ Run in Terminal:

1. Download the zip file
2. Open a terminal and navigate to the project root directory (JavaZooApp-main).
3. Compile the Java source files to an out folder and run the SerializationActions class:

javac -d out src/zooProject/*.java
java -cp out zooProject.SerializationActions