Learning C++ the Fun Way
Taesoo Kim
Dr. Ramon Lawrence
Computer Science
About C++
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Widely known
Introduced 2nd year of college
Difficult task to learn
Taught by doing programming projects
Making a game in C++ is a fun
assignment
Goals of the project
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Construct infrastructure for teaching C++
– Critical Mass
 Motivate students to program
 Allow students to play over the internet
 Test student’s game implementations
How the game is played
Components of Infrastructure
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The applet is written in Java
– CriticalMass.java
– Displays the game
– Applet runs in internet browsers
 The core of the game is written in C++
– CM.h
– AI of the game
– What students write and upload
 Linkage between Java file and C++ file
– CriticalMass.cxx
 MySQL database contains C++ code and user information
How the Infrastructure works
How the graphical aspect of the game works
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Applet initializes 5 x 6 matrix
– Matrix contains square information
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Applet draws the board
– Grid
– Bombs
Sample design of the core
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The Move Generator
– Goes through every square and tries to insert a bomb
– If it can’t moves to the next square
 The Board Evaluator
– Point system
• 6 - corner, 5 - sides, 4 - interior
• add the points. Better boards will have a higher sum
• reason for specific point value
– Who has the most bombs in the best position
Continued...
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The Game Tree
– built by recursion
– makes every valid move and creates the board
corresponding that move
– makes an opponent move in response
– makes another move in response
– evaluates using the board evaluator and picks the
best
– assumes that each player will make the best move
Conclusion
Attract students to program often
 Encourage competition among
students
 Motivate students to improve their
work
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END...