Python Aquarium Simulation – OOP Project

Overview

Academic project developed in Python, simulating an aquarium that contains different aquatic species interacting with each other.
Each species has its own behavior, movement, and life cycle, implemented through object-oriented programming (OOP) concepts such as inheritance and polymorphism.

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🐠 Features

• Simulation of an aquarium with multiple species:
  • Scalar, Molly, Ocypode, and Shrimp
• Object-oriented hierarchy:
  • Base class Animal with subclasses defining specific behavior
• Step-based simulation:
  • Movement, aging, hunger, and death mechanics
• Exception handling for invalid interactions or configurations
• Unit testing for selected classes (e.g., Molly)

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🧩 System Architecture

• Animal.py – base class defining shared properties and actions
• Scalar.py, Molly.py, Ocypode.py, Shrimp.py – specific fish classes implementing unique movement patterns
• Aquarium.py – manages all animals, collisions, and simulation steps
• main.py – entry point for running the simulation
• test_molly.py – example of unit testing a subclass

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🧠 Technologies

• Language: Python
• Paradigm: Object-Oriented Programming
• Tools: PyCharm / VSCode, unittest

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👩‍💻 Author

Developed by Hadar Shir
B.Sc. Information Systems and Software Engineering
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

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📚 Notes

This project demonstrates practical application of inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism, and modular software design in Python.