Java Programming

Hello All,

I was just wondering what is the psuedo logic behind airline reservation system. I had done the assignment long back (10 years back), so cannot recollect the details. All I remember is - we use set of arraylists (for seats) and set the seats accordingly (mark as occupied if reserved, else show as available etc). My biggest question now is - if a person requires 4 seats (preferably all adjacent seats, complexity is all 4 seats in a row is also considered to be adjacent, so as 3 in a row and once behind, so as 2 in a row, one behind, one diagonally opposite etc, so many possible combination). I don't recollect these kind of enhancements done when I designed. I am just curious to know how these systems are designed. Can someone throw your ideas on the reservation system pseudo logic please? Also which technology is generally preferred for such systems (Java, PHP etc)?

Thanks in advance
Shree