Auction

A multithreaded auction program which simulates an auction using a thread for each bidder, displaying the live results of the auction; the winner is shown at the end of the auction, with ties broken based on which bidder submitted their bid faster.

Demo of the Program:

     

If you are on MacOS/Linux

1. Ensure you have gcc installed by writing gcc -v in the terminal; Note: on MacOS, it may show the clang or clang++ compilation tools when you write this. If that is the case, you do NOT need to install gcc. If you don't have gcc, install gcc by writing

export HOMEBREW_NO_ANALYTICS=1
brew update
brew upgrade
brew info gcc
brew install gcc
brew cleanup

2. Repeat step 1 to ensure the installation was successful.
3. To compile the code in the terminal, ensure you are in the directory containing auction.c, and write

gcc auction.c -o auction -pthread

4. To run the code in the terminal, ensure you are in the directory containing auction.c, and write

./auction

     

If you are on Windows

1. Note: gcc installation on Windows is cumbersome. Check if you have gcc installed by writing gcc --version in the command prompt. If you don't have gcc installed, copy and paste the code from auction.c in this online IDE. The online IDE allows you to execute your code with the click of a button, so the following steps are for those who are running the code in their PC's terminal.
2. If you are compiling this in your PC's terminal, ensure you are in the directory containing auction.c, and write

gcc auction.c -o auction -pthread

3. To run the code in the terminal, ensure you are in the directory containing auction.c, and write

./auction

     

Rules:

• The user enters the number of bidders in the auction (the maximum is 100, although this number is arbitrary and can be changed to any other larger or smaller maximum).
• The user enters an upper bound (n) on the number of bids a bidder can make; if the bidder has made n-1 bids without committing a bid, they are forced to commit their last bid.
• The user also enters the maximum time a bidder can take for a single bid, along with the maximum value a bidder can bid.
• The results of the auction are displayed after it is finished in descending order; ties are broken by smallest bid time.

How it Works:

• Each bidder thread enters several bids (bid value is chosen randomly), and every time a bid is made, there is a 50/50 chance of it being committed. Once a bid is committed, the bidder thread terminates.
• You can see the progress of each bidder as an arrow (these arrows move as the bidder's change their bids); an arrow terminated with a > indicates that the bidder has not yet made a final bid, while an arrow terminated with a * indicates that the bidder has made their final bid.
• The auction winner is the bidder with the highest bid value, with ties broken by smallest bid time.