CSC 171
Homework 1

Assigned Sept. 4, due Sept. 18

• Fill out the class survey on the Web.
• Read The Joys (and Woes) of the Craft of Programming.
• Skim Adages on Software Design and Development (I expect you to read all this stuff eventually, at your own pace.)
• Write a few paragraphs on your reaction to the above reading assignments, and turn them in by email to Dr. Bloch. Be sure to include your name!
• Programming:
  • Download the eval folder and the FunWithStrings folder, unzip them, and compile them (using BlueJ, as discussed in class), to make sure they works as is.
  • Make a copy of the file FunWithStrings.java, naming it FunWithStrings.java.backup. You'll use this to recover if you really mess up FunWithStrings.java in the following steps.
  • Read the program and its output. Experiment by making up different variations on the statements and operations provided. Each time you make up a new example,
    1. predict what answer you think it'll produce,
    2. try the example interactively (using the "eval" project), and see whether the computer produces the answer you expected. If not, keep trying more examples until you can consistently predict what the computer will do.
    3. Modify the FunWithStrings.java program to include your example. Then compile and run the FunWithStrings program, and see whether the computer produces the answer you thought it would. It should produce the same answer as when you tried the example interactively.
    Turn in your expanded version of the FunWithStrings.java program, with your examples, along with a few sentences about what you've learned.
  • Introduce some intentional errors into the FunWithStrings.java program, one at a time, e.g. mismatched parentheses, missing semicolon at the end of a statement, misspelled variable names, misspelled function names, missing commas, extra commas, mismatched {curly braces}, etc. For each error, write down what you did and what happened, then fix the error and make sure the program compiles correctly before you introduce a different error. Turn in this list of "what you did and what happened."