FunctionalPrototype

Functional Prototype

The best way to start writing your project - and also help finish up your design - it by writing a functional prototype. This is a very simple and limited program that implements a very small part of the solution.

During the Analysis Stage, you already prototyped the user-interface. During the Design Stage, it's useful to protype some of the file-handling features.

Start with VERY BASIC functions. Here are some suggestions:

Write a sample text-file for one of the lists in your design overview
Write a method to search for something in the sample file
Write a method to count something in the sample file
Write a method to copy the ID strings into a List box (e.g. all the names)
Write a method to copy the ID strings into an array
Write a method to sort the array

Here is an example for the Sport Team example design.

Sample File
Game2009-12-15.txt Functional Prototype to Check Scores

2009.12.15
away
Paris
won
59
40
Al
5
Bob
3
Carl
7
Doug
5
Ed
9
Fred
15
Greg
10
Hal
5
Ike
0
Joe
0
import java.io.*;
public class Functional
{
public static void main(String[] args)
{
     new Functional();
}

public Functional()
{
     checkTotal();
}

public void checkTotal()
{
    // Reads game.txt file, adds up all the players points
    // and checks whether the total matches the recorded score
    try
    {
       BufferedReader info = new BufferedReader(
         new FileReader("game2009-12-15.txt"));
       String date = info.readLine();
       String place = info.readLine();
       String opponent = info.readLine();
       String result = info.readLine();
       String ours = info.readLine();
       String theirs = info.readLine();

       int ourScore = Integer.parseInt(ours);
       int theirScore = Integer.parseInt(theirs);

       int addup = 0;
       while(info.ready())
       {
          String name = info.readLine();
          String points = info.readLine();
          int p = Integer.parseInt(points);

          addup = addup + p;
       }
       System.out.println(ourScore);
       System.out.println(addup);

       if(addup == ourScore)
       { System.out.println("correct"); }
       else
       { System.out.println("wrong"); }
       info.close();
    }
    catch(IOException ex)
    { System.out.println(ex.toString()); }

}
}

If some of this programming work is difficult, it might be because you have not clearly thought out the contents of your data-structures.