Volunteer Matching System

This project is a Java-based desktop and server application that matches volunteers to community services based on their personal preferences. The backend uses a genetic algorithm to optimize these assignments based on availability and rankings.

Project Overview

The system consists of:

• A Swing-based UI client for volunteers to enter their preferences and view their assignments.
• A multithreaded HTTP server to store submissions and perform optimization in memory.
• A genetic algorithm that computes near-optimal matches considering service capacity constraints.

Directory Structure

src/
├── main/
│   └── java/
│       ├── org.example.client/         # Client-side (UI + networking)
│       │   └── api/                    # HTTP client logic
│       │   └── ui/                     # Swing-based UI
│       ├── org.example.server/        # Server-side
│       │   └── network/               # HTTP endpoints
│       │   └── logic/                 # Optimization engine
│       └── org.example.domain/        # Shared domain classes (Volunteer, Service, Assignment)

Requirements

• Java 21 or higher
• Maven 3.6+
• No database required — all data is stored in-memory

How to Run

1. Compile the project

mvn clean compile

2. Run the server (in a terminal)

mvn exec:java@run-server

3. Run the client (in a separate terminal)

mvn exec:java@run-client

You can open multiple terminals and repeat step 3 to simulate multiple volunteers.

How to Use the Client

1. Launch the client.
2. Go to My Preferences.
3. Enter your name and select 5 unique preferences from the dropdowns.
4. Click Submit Preferences.
5. Switch to the My Assignments tab.
6. Press Run Optimization.
7. Your assignment will appear shortly.

Sample Preferences

Example of 5 unique preferences:

• Soup Kitchen
• Beach Cleanup
• Animal Shelter
• Community Garden
• Youth Mentor

Optimization Details

The server runs a genetic algorithm that:

• Tries to assign each volunteer one of their top preferences.
• Respects the capacity constraints of each service.
• Minimizes total dissatisfaction by assigning higher weight to top-ranked choices.

Notes

• Every time the client starts, a new unique volunteer ID is generated automatically using System.nanoTime().
• Assignments are refreshed automatically via polling.
• All state is reset when the server is restarted.