CSC 161 Module 3: Working with Characters, Strings, and I/O

Introduction

This module introduces CSC 161 students to writing dynamic programs that can take input and follow commands based on input, including

1. characters
2. strings,
3. input and output.

Day-by-day Details

Day	Topic	Preparation	In-class	Due Date	Availability for Extra Credit
Wednesday, October 10	Module 3: Strings and I/O		Examples io-NATO.c counting-chars.c
Friday, October 12	Characters and Strings	Reading from Text King: Section 7.3, Chapter 13, pages 134-141, 277-299, OR Kernighan & Ritchie: 1.9, 7.8.1, 7.8.2, B.3	Characters and Strings Lab
Monday, October 15	Input and Output printf	Reading from Text King: Section 3.1, pages 37-41 OR Kernighan & Ritchie: 1.5, 7.1, 7.2, B.2 (reference) Examples: getchar-example.c Strings and Characters in C	Input/Output Lab
Tuesday, October 16	More I/O scanf	Reading from Text King: Section 3.2, pages 42-46, OR Kernighan & Ritchie, 7.4 B.1.2, B.1.4 (reference) Examples: scanf-example.c i-o-example-1a.c i-o-example-1b.c i-o-example-2.c i-o-example-3.c i-o-example-4.c i-o-example.c iotest.c	I/O Lab Continued
Wednesday, October 17	Hour Test 2	Covers through Lab on Characters and Strings
Friday, October 19	Project		Robot follows typed commands	Monday, November 5
Monday, October 29	Project		Robot follows typed commands	Monday, November 5

Project: Robot Follows Typed Commands

Working in pairs, students should develop a program that includes these elements:

• program controls actions and sounds in the robot
• program prints a prompt that lists the possible actions
• robot can perform at least ten different commands
• robot counts the number of actions taken and prints the number of actions taken at the end of the program
• program ends after the user types a command to quit

Together with the program, a student pair must write a paragraph that describes what tests are needed to demonstrate the program is working correctly. That is, what should a tester do to demonstrate the program works? Also, the student pair must present a sequence of steps that the tester should do to carry out the test plan. (E.g., what should be typed in a terminal window, including the details of the compile, link, and run steps?)

Command Requirements

• Commands should be words, not letters.
• Each command must perform a clearly different action. The same action, but with different duration or speed does not count as a different action.

  Allowed: turnLeft, turnRight

  Not Allowed: turnLeft1second, turnLeft2seconds

• At least 5 commands must also take one or more parameters. For example, if you implement the beep function, the user must be able to specify the duration and pitch of the beep. If you implement a short dance, the user does not need to specify the length of any of the dance steps.

Grading

This project will be worth 25 points, based on the following rubric:

• control of robot activities (5 points)
• program can perform at least 10 separate commands (10 points)
• description and steps for testing (5 points)
• creativity in making an interesting robot application (5 points)

Note

This project is planned for use as the base of a later project, so you will want to document your code well now — in anticipation of later activities.