COMP 2401B -- Assignment #1

COMP 2401B -- Assignment #1

Goal
Using the VM provided for the course, you will implement a small C program to simulate a race between
a tortoise and a hare. Timmy Tortoise and Harold the Hare are racing each other along a narrow path up
the Mount of Doom. Runners take turns moving up the hill, and each runner exhibits randomized
behaviour from a predetermined set of moves. These moves include climbing quickly or slowly, or
slipping back down the hill, or even taking a nap. You will simulate the race and declare a winner when
one of the runners reaches the top.
Base code to initialize the random number generator has been provided and posted in cuLearn.
Learning Outcomes
You will practice problem solving and designing modular functions to implement a solution. You will also
work with arrays in C.
Instructions
1. Data structures
Your program will:
• represent the path up the Mount of Doom as an array of characters, up to a maximum position
(MAX_POS) of 70
◦ if a given position (index) in the array contains a runner, the value in the path array at that
position will be the runner’s avatar (‘T’ for Timmy and ‘H’ for Harold)
◦ if a position has no runner, the path array will hold a space character
• store each runner’s current position on the path, as an integer corresponding to the index in the path
array
2. Program behaviour
You will design modular functions to implement the following functionality. Your program will:
• loop until one of the runners reaches the top; in every iteration:
◦ each runner makes a random move, based on the information in Table 1
◦ the runner’s position is updated, and his avatar on the path is moved
◦ the path is printed to the screen
• once a runner reaches the top, print the name of the winner to the screen
• a sample program execution is shown in Figure 1; each line represents the path after one iteration,
with the bottom of the hill on the left-hand side and the top of the hill on the right
3. Documentation
You will thoroughly document your program and every function, as discussed in class. Every function
will indicate whether each parameter is an input parameter, an output parameter, or an input-output
parameter.
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Table 1 -- Runner Moves
Runner Type of move Random
chance
What happens
Tortoise Fast plod 50% move 3 positions up
Slow plod 30% move 1 position up
Slip 20% move 6 positions down
Hare Big hop 20% move 9 positions up
Small hop 30% move 1 position up
Big slip 10% move 12 positions down
Small slip 20% move 2 positions down
Sleep 20% no move
Figure 1 -- Sample execution
Constraints
• your program must be correctly designed and separated into modular, reusable functions
• your program must reuse functions everywhere possible
• your program must perform all basic error checking
• your program must be thoroughly documented
• do not use any global variables
• if skeleton code is provided, you must not make any changes to the existing code
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Submission
You will submit in cuLearn, before the due date and time, one tar or zip file that includes the following:
• all source code, including the code provided, if applicable
• a readme file that includes:
◦ a preamble (program and revision authors, purpose, list of source/header/data files)
◦ the exact compilation command
◦ launching and operating instructions
Grading (out of 100)
Marking components:
• 10 marks: correct data structure initialization
• 80 marks: correct racing behaviour
8 marks: correct loop header
30 marks: correct implementation of moving behaviour for the tortoise
35 marks: correct implementation of moving behaviour for the hare
7 marks: correct printing of the path at every iteration
• 10 marks: correct computation and declaration of winner
Deductions:
• Packaging errors:
◦ 100 marks for an incorrect archive type that is not supported by the VM
◦ 50 marks for an incorrect archive type that is supported by the VM
◦ 10 marks for a missing readme
• Major programming and design errors:
◦ 50% of a marking component that uses global variables
◦ 50% of a marking component that is incorrectly designed
• Minor programming and design errors:
◦ 10% for consistently missing comments or other bad style
◦ 10% for consistently failing to perform basic error checking
• Execution errors:
◦ 100% of a marking component that cannot be tested because it doesn’t compile or execute in VM
◦ 100% of a marking component that cannot be tested because it’s not used in the code
◦ 100% of a marking component that cannot be proven to run successfully due to missing output
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