CS173: Intro to Computer Science - Final Project (100 Points)

Assignment Goals

The goals of this assignment are:
  1. To demonstrate the fundamental concepts of programming in a unified project
  2. To work effectively as a member of a small group using collaborative tools for software development

The Assignment

In this project, you will propose a topic of your choosing and a group of at least 2 and up to 3 total members. The project must be approved by the instructor before it may commence, but the topic is entirely up to you. Multidisciplinary projects with a broader impact are encouraged, and you are welcome to collaborate with a stakeholder outside the department for inspiration on potential projects (this person is not to contribute code, only disciplinary context).

In addition to the class in which you will write your main() function, your project should include and utilize at least one additional class with at least one constructor and at least one non-static method inside. Your project will take input from a text file to initialize at least some of your variables.

You may use git or another version control system to coordinate between your team. Each student shall contribute by checking in meaningful contributions to the project on the version control system. If a version control system is not used, code sections should be commented with the initials or recognized pseudonym of the student.

Finally, prepare as a team a project presentation that you will present live to the class for final presentations. Each student must have a speaking role at the presentation.

Group Formation and Proposal (10 Points)

To form a group, students should draft a text document including the names of all students in the group, a summary of the proposed project, and a breakdown of each student’s responsibilities on the team. Each student should send this identical document to me for approval via e-mail. I will respond via e-mail to the entire group notifying them that the project has been approved, and which members are on the team. If I add or remove members from the team, I will notify the entire group via e-mail. This shall constitute agreement of the project responsibilities by all members of the team.

Students who do not submit the proposal document described above (even if they are named in another group’s proposal) within 3 days of the project hand-out date will be assigned to a group and notified via e-mail. Students will not receive credit for the proposal in this situation.

Should a member of the team fail to participate to the standards set in the proposal document described above, one or more members of the group shall notify that student via e-mail of specific tasks from the proposal document that have been agreed to, along with a deadline to communicate with the group (copy me on the e-mail message). If the student does not respond within 2 days of that message, the group should notify me via e-mail, and I will investigate and, if appropriate, I may re-organize the team by moving one or more members to other groups (whom I will notify via e-mail), or by removing the student from the group (whom I will notify via e-mail).

Version Control (15% Extra Credit)

See this video for more information on using Git as a version control system to synchronize your project with your partners, and this video for a tutorial on using Git with NetBeans.

Submission

In your submission, please include answers to any questions asked on the assignment page in your README file. If you wrote code as part of this assignment, please describe your design, approach, and implementation in your README file as well. Finally, include answers to the following questions:
  • Describe what you did, how you did it, what challenges you encountered, and how you solved them.
  • Please answer any questions found throughout the narrative of this assignment.
  • If collaboration with a buddy was permitted, did you work with a buddy on this assignment? If so, who? If not, do you certify that this submission represents your own original work?
  • Please identify any and all portions of your submission that were not originally written by you (for example, code originally written by your buddy, or anything taken or adapted from a non-classroom resource). It is always OK to use your textbook and instructor notes; however, you are certifying that any portions not designated as coming from an outside person or source are your own original work.
  • Approximately how many hours it took you to finish this assignment (I will not judge you for this at all...I am simply using it to gauge if the assignments are too easy or hard)?
  • Your overall impression of the assignment. Did you love it, hate it, or were you neutral? One word answers are fine, but if you have any suggestions for the future let me know.
  • Using the grading specifications on this page, discuss briefly the grade you would give yourself and why. Discuss each item in the grading specification.
  • Any other concerns that you have. For instance, if you have a bug that you were unable to solve but you made progress, write that here. The more you articulate the problem the more partial credit you will receive (it is fine to leave this blank).

Contract Grading

To Receive an A

  • Each item required for a grade of B is included
  • The project contains at least one class with a constructor, accessor/mutator functions, and private variables
  • The group consists of at least 2 and no more than 3 members
  • The project submitted was substantially consistent with the project proposed to and approved by the Professor

To Receive a B

  • Each item required for a grade of C is included
  • The project includes appropriate unit tests, including multiple tests for each function as required to demonstrate functionality with boundary case inputs
  • An appropriate README writeup is included
  • A project proposal was submitted and approved by the Professor
  • Code is appropriately documented including javadoc documentation for each function

To Receive a C

  • Each item required for a grade of D is included
  • Each member of the group has a speaking role during the presentation
  • The project includes a loop and a conditional
  • The project uses functions to break up complex functionality, such that the main function is relatively small in size and scope
  • Code is properly indented and spaced
  • Variable and function names are meaningful and consistently written in terms of character case

To Receive a D

  • Each member of the group makes meaningful contributions to the implementation of the project, demonstrated through version control commits or comments in the code

Please refer to the Style Guide for code quality examples and guidelines.