Project 6 Pre-existing classes

1. Problem Statement:
The primary goal of this programming assignment is to give students experience
using pre-existing classes. You will be given a Connect4 class that represents the
classic 6x7 Connect4 board using a 2D array of characters. The Connect4 class also
provides methods to clear the board, let a player make a move, display the board,
and finally check to see if one player has won the game. The Connect4 class
definition is given below:
// Global constants
const int WIN = 4;
const int ROWS = 6;
const int COLS = 7;
// Class definition
class Connect4
{
public:
// Constructor and destructor
Connect4();
~Connect4();
// Public methods
void ClearBoard();
bool MakeMove(int col, char player);
bool CheckWin(char player);
void PrintBoard();
private:
// Private variables
char board[ROWS][COLS];
int count[COLS];
};
Your task is to write an interactive program that will allow the user to play the
Connect4 game against the computer. To do this, you must implement a “game
loop” that lets the user and the computer take alternate turns placing their pieces on
the board until one player or the other wins the game (or there are no spaces left to
play in). To keep things simple, your computer player (the game AI) should choose
a column to play in at random. Your program should display the board after every
move, so the player can plan their strategy for winning the game.2. Design:
For this assignment, the major design decisions were made when the Connect4 class
was created. Notice that there are global constants that specify how many rows and
columns there are on the board, and a private 2D array called “board” that contains
characters representing the player’s pieces on the board. There is also a private 1D
array called “count” that keeps track of how many pieces have been placed in each
column (which is helpful when placing pieces on the board).
The two methods “ClearBoard” and “PrintBoard” are very simple, and do as their
names suggest. The method “MakeMove” checks to see if the specified column has
room, and if so, places the player’s piece at the top of the column. If not, the method
returns false. The method “CheckWin” checks all of the rows, columns, and
diagonals to see if the specified player has four pieces in a row anywhere. If so it
returns true, if not it returns false.
Your primary design decision is to figure out what the “game loop” will look like
from the user’s perspective. In particular, how the user and computer will take
turns playing pieces, what the user prompts will be, and what the program will
output.
3. Implementation:
You are starting this programming project with the definition and implementation
of the Connect4 class. Your first task should be to write a simple main program that
creates a Connect4 object, and performs a collection of method calls to learn how to
use this class.
Once you are confident in how the methods work, you can implement the “game
loop” that prompts the user for their move, prints the board, makes a random move,
prints the board, and checks to see if either player has won.
As always, it is very important to make changes incrementally one feature at a time,
writing comments, adding code, compiling, and debugging. This way, you always
have a program that "does something" even if it is not complete.
4. Testing:
Test your program to check that it operates correctly for all of the requirements
listed above. Also check for the error handling capabilities of the code. Try your
program with several input values, and save your testing output in text files for
inclusion in your project report.5. Documentation:
When you have completed your C++ program, write a short report using the
“Programming Project Report Template” describing what the objectives were, what
you did, and the status of the program. Does it work properly for all test cases? Are
there any known problems?