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Programming Languages Assignment 1
Programming Languages
Assignment 1
You will write 11 SML functions (and tests for them) related to calendar dates. In all problems, a “date”
is an SML value of type int*int*int, where the first part is the year, the second part is the month, and
the third part is the day. A “reasonable” date has a positive year, a month between 1 and 12, and a day no
greater than 31 (or less depending on the month). Your solutions need to work correctly only for reasonable
dates, but do not check for reasonable dates (that is a challenge problem) and many of your functions will
naturally work correctly for some/all non-reasonable dates. A “day of year” is a number from 1 to 365
where, for example, 33 represents February 2. (We ignore leap years except in one challenge problem.)
1. Write a function is_older that takes two dates and evaluates to true or false. It evaluates to true if
the first argument is a date that comes before the second argument. (If the two dates are the same,
the result is false.)
2. Write a function number_in_month that takes a list of dates and a month (i.e., an int) and returns
how many dates in the list are in the given month.
3. Write a function number_in_months that takes a list of dates and a list of months (i.e., an int list)
and returns the number of dates in the list of dates that are in any of the months in the list of months.
Assume the list of months has no number repeated. Hint: Use your answer to the previous problem.
4. Write a function dates_in_month that takes a list of dates and a month (i.e., an int) and returns a
list holding the dates from the argument list of dates that are in the month. The returned list should
contain dates in the order they were originally given.
5. Write a function dates_in_months that takes a list of dates and a list of months (i.e., an int list)
and returns a list holding the dates from the argument list of dates that are in any of the months in
the list of months. Assume the list of months has no number repeated. Hint: Use your answer to the
previous problem and SML’s list-append operator (@).
6. Write a function get_nth that takes a list of strings and an int n and returns the n
th element of the
list where the head of the list is 1st. Do not worry about the case where the list has too few elements:
your function may apply hd or tl to the empty list in this case, which is okay.
7. Write a function date_to_string that takes a date and returns a string of the form January 20, 2013
(for example). Use the operator ^ for concatenating strings and the library function Int.toString
for converting an int to a string. For producing the month part, do not use a bunch of conditionals.
Instead, use a list holding 12 strings and your answer to the previous problem. For consistency, put a
comma following the day and use capitalized English month names: January, February, March, April,
May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
8. Write a function number_before_reaching_sum that takes an int called sum, which you can assume
is positive, and an int list, which you can assume contains all positive numbers, and returns an int.
You should return an int n such that the first n elements of the list add to less than sum, but the first
n + 1 elements of the list add to sum or more. Assume the entire list sums to more than the passed in
value; it is okay for an exception to occur if this is not the case.
9. Write a function what_month that takes a day of year (i.e., an int between 1 and 365) and returns
what month that day is in (1 for January, 2 for February, etc.). Use a list holding 12 integers and your
answer to the previous problem.
10. Write a function month_range that takes two days of the year day1 and day2 and returns an int list
[m1,m2,...,mn] where m1 is the month of day1, m2 is the month of day1+1, ..., and mn is the month
of day day2. Note the result will have length day2 - day1 + 1 or length 0 if day1day2.
11. Write a function oldest that takes a list of dates and evaluates to an (int*int*int) option. It
evaluates to NONE if the list has no dates and SOME d if the date d is the oldest date in the list.
1
12. Challenge Problem: Write functions number_in_months_challenge and dates_in_months_challenge
that are like your solutions to problems 3 and 5 except having a month in the second argument multiple
times has no more effect than having it once. (Hint: Remove duplicates, then use previous work.)
13. Challenge Problem: Write a function reasonable_date that takes a date and determines if it
describes a real date in the common era. A “real date” has a positive year (year 0 did not exist), a
month between 1 and 12, and a day appropriate for the month. Solutions should properly handle leap
years. Leap years are years that are either divisible by 400 or divisible by 4 but not divisible by 100.
(Do not worry about days possibly lost in the conversion to the Gregorian calendar in the Late 1500s.)
Note: Remember challenge problems are not required for a high grade and will be worth (only) a few points.
Note: The sample solution contains roughly 75–80 lines of code, not including challenge problems.
Syntax Hints
Small syntax errors can lead to strange error messages. Here are 3 examples for function definitions:
1. int * int * int list means int * int * (int list), not (int * int * int) list.
2. fun f x : t means the result type of f is t, whereas fun f (x:t) means the argument type of f is t.
There is no need to write result types (and in later assignments, no need to write argument types).
3. fun (x t), fun (t x), or fun (t : x) are all wrong, but the error message suggests you are trying
to do something much more advanced than you actually are (which is trying to write fun (x : t)).
Summary
Evaluating a correct homework solution should generate these bindings:
val is_older = fn : (int * int * int) * (int * int * int) - bool
val number_in_month = fn : (int * int * int) list * int - int
val number_in_months = fn : (int * int * int) list * int list - int
val dates_in_month = fn : (int * int * int) list * int - (int * int * int) list
val dates_in_months = fn : (int * int * int) list * int list - (int * int * int) list
val get_nth = fn : string list * int - string
val date_to_string = fn : int * int * int - string
val number_before_reaching_sum = fn : int * int list - int
val what_month = fn : int - int
val month_range = fn : int * int - int list
val oldest = fn : (int * int * int) list - (int * int * int) option
Of course, generating these bindings does not guarantee that your solutions are correct. Test your functions:
Put your testing code in a separate file. We will not grade the testing file, nor will you turn it in, but surely
you want to run your functions and record your test inputs in a file.
Assessment
We will automatically test your functions on a variety of inputs, including edge cases. We will also ask
peers to evaluate your code for simplicity, conciseness, elegance, and good formatting including indentation
and line breaks. Your solution will also be checked for using only features discussed so far in class. In
particular, you must not use SML’s mutable references or arrays. Do not use pattern matching (until the
next assignment where we will require it).
Turn-in Instructions
First, follow the instructions on the course website to submit your solution file (not your testing file) for autograding. Do not proceed to the peer-assessment submission until you receive a high-enough grade from the
auto-grader: Doing peer assessment requires instructions that include a sample solution, so these instructions
will be “locked” until you receive high-enough auto-grader score. Then submit your same solution file again
for peer assessment and follow the peer-assessment instructions.
Assignment 1
You will write 11 SML functions (and tests for them) related to calendar dates. In all problems, a “date”
is an SML value of type int*int*int, where the first part is the year, the second part is the month, and
the third part is the day. A “reasonable” date has a positive year, a month between 1 and 12, and a day no
greater than 31 (or less depending on the month). Your solutions need to work correctly only for reasonable
dates, but do not check for reasonable dates (that is a challenge problem) and many of your functions will
naturally work correctly for some/all non-reasonable dates. A “day of year” is a number from 1 to 365
where, for example, 33 represents February 2. (We ignore leap years except in one challenge problem.)
1. Write a function is_older that takes two dates and evaluates to true or false. It evaluates to true if
the first argument is a date that comes before the second argument. (If the two dates are the same,
the result is false.)
2. Write a function number_in_month that takes a list of dates and a month (i.e., an int) and returns
how many dates in the list are in the given month.
3. Write a function number_in_months that takes a list of dates and a list of months (i.e., an int list)
and returns the number of dates in the list of dates that are in any of the months in the list of months.
Assume the list of months has no number repeated. Hint: Use your answer to the previous problem.
4. Write a function dates_in_month that takes a list of dates and a month (i.e., an int) and returns a
list holding the dates from the argument list of dates that are in the month. The returned list should
contain dates in the order they were originally given.
5. Write a function dates_in_months that takes a list of dates and a list of months (i.e., an int list)
and returns a list holding the dates from the argument list of dates that are in any of the months in
the list of months. Assume the list of months has no number repeated. Hint: Use your answer to the
previous problem and SML’s list-append operator (@).
6. Write a function get_nth that takes a list of strings and an int n and returns the n
th element of the
list where the head of the list is 1st. Do not worry about the case where the list has too few elements:
your function may apply hd or tl to the empty list in this case, which is okay.
7. Write a function date_to_string that takes a date and returns a string of the form January 20, 2013
(for example). Use the operator ^ for concatenating strings and the library function Int.toString
for converting an int to a string. For producing the month part, do not use a bunch of conditionals.
Instead, use a list holding 12 strings and your answer to the previous problem. For consistency, put a
comma following the day and use capitalized English month names: January, February, March, April,
May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
8. Write a function number_before_reaching_sum that takes an int called sum, which you can assume
is positive, and an int list, which you can assume contains all positive numbers, and returns an int.
You should return an int n such that the first n elements of the list add to less than sum, but the first
n + 1 elements of the list add to sum or more. Assume the entire list sums to more than the passed in
value; it is okay for an exception to occur if this is not the case.
9. Write a function what_month that takes a day of year (i.e., an int between 1 and 365) and returns
what month that day is in (1 for January, 2 for February, etc.). Use a list holding 12 integers and your
answer to the previous problem.
10. Write a function month_range that takes two days of the year day1 and day2 and returns an int list
[m1,m2,...,mn] where m1 is the month of day1, m2 is the month of day1+1, ..., and mn is the month
of day day2. Note the result will have length day2 - day1 + 1 or length 0 if day1day2.
11. Write a function oldest that takes a list of dates and evaluates to an (int*int*int) option. It
evaluates to NONE if the list has no dates and SOME d if the date d is the oldest date in the list.
1
12. Challenge Problem: Write functions number_in_months_challenge and dates_in_months_challenge
that are like your solutions to problems 3 and 5 except having a month in the second argument multiple
times has no more effect than having it once. (Hint: Remove duplicates, then use previous work.)
13. Challenge Problem: Write a function reasonable_date that takes a date and determines if it
describes a real date in the common era. A “real date” has a positive year (year 0 did not exist), a
month between 1 and 12, and a day appropriate for the month. Solutions should properly handle leap
years. Leap years are years that are either divisible by 400 or divisible by 4 but not divisible by 100.
(Do not worry about days possibly lost in the conversion to the Gregorian calendar in the Late 1500s.)
Note: Remember challenge problems are not required for a high grade and will be worth (only) a few points.
Note: The sample solution contains roughly 75–80 lines of code, not including challenge problems.
Syntax Hints
Small syntax errors can lead to strange error messages. Here are 3 examples for function definitions:
1. int * int * int list means int * int * (int list), not (int * int * int) list.
2. fun f x : t means the result type of f is t, whereas fun f (x:t) means the argument type of f is t.
There is no need to write result types (and in later assignments, no need to write argument types).
3. fun (x t), fun (t x), or fun (t : x) are all wrong, but the error message suggests you are trying
to do something much more advanced than you actually are (which is trying to write fun (x : t)).
Summary
Evaluating a correct homework solution should generate these bindings:
val is_older = fn : (int * int * int) * (int * int * int) - bool
val number_in_month = fn : (int * int * int) list * int - int
val number_in_months = fn : (int * int * int) list * int list - int
val dates_in_month = fn : (int * int * int) list * int - (int * int * int) list
val dates_in_months = fn : (int * int * int) list * int list - (int * int * int) list
val get_nth = fn : string list * int - string
val date_to_string = fn : int * int * int - string
val number_before_reaching_sum = fn : int * int list - int
val what_month = fn : int - int
val month_range = fn : int * int - int list
val oldest = fn : (int * int * int) list - (int * int * int) option
Of course, generating these bindings does not guarantee that your solutions are correct. Test your functions:
Put your testing code in a separate file. We will not grade the testing file, nor will you turn it in, but surely
you want to run your functions and record your test inputs in a file.
Assessment
We will automatically test your functions on a variety of inputs, including edge cases. We will also ask
peers to evaluate your code for simplicity, conciseness, elegance, and good formatting including indentation
and line breaks. Your solution will also be checked for using only features discussed so far in class. In
particular, you must not use SML’s mutable references or arrays. Do not use pattern matching (until the
next assignment where we will require it).
Turn-in Instructions
First, follow the instructions on the course website to submit your solution file (not your testing file) for autograding. Do not proceed to the peer-assessment submission until you receive a high-enough grade from the
auto-grader: Doing peer assessment requires instructions that include a sample solution, so these instructions
will be “locked” until you receive high-enough auto-grader score. Then submit your same solution file again
for peer assessment and follow the peer-assessment instructions.
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