Intro

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce you to CodingBat in a scaffolded way.

Every big programming problem has a lot of little programming problems in it.  The little programming problems have elements we see again and again - string and list manipulation, loops, a little logic.

It is a big advantage for pupils who are practiced and quick with these little bits of code.  Skill with the little problems allows pupils to concentrate on the larger parts of the problem.  Or put another other way, someone who struggles with the loops, logic, etc. does not have time for the big picture.

CodingBat is all about building and practicing little code problems.  The number of problems in each area is pretty large, so you can repeat and solidify your code skill in that area.

CodingBat is a web-based coding problem tool, that presents a series of increasingly challenging problems for you to solve in code.  It provides an interface (where you type Python code. and will then test your implementation using a set of prepared test data.

I will take you through the process of solving the first warm-up problem step-by-step.

2. Register (so that the site will track your progress).

3. Open the Warmup-1 section.

4. There are 16 problems, click on the first one, sleep-in.

5. Now the interface will change describing the problem and providing an editor window in which to type code. Note that the problem expects you to implement your solution as a function, the definition statement for which is provided:

• 6. Read the problem and the provided example cases:

The parameter weekday is True if it is a weekday, and the parameter vacation is True if we are on vacation.  We sleep in if it is not a weekday or we're on vacation.  Return True if we sleep in.

sleep_in(False, False) → True
sleep_in(True, False) → False
sleep_in(False, True) → True

Note that the function takes two parameters, weekday and vacation, and from the example cases, we can see that they will be supplied as Boolean values and that the function would return a Boolean value. In the first example, the value False is supplied as an argument for the parameter weekday and the argument False is supplied for the parameter vacation. These arguments mean the that function would return the value True.

Applying context, this means that if it is not a weekday (therefore it is a weekend) and we are not on vacation (therefore it is during the term-time), then it is True that we will sleep in.

Similarly for the second example, which supplies the arguments True, False and returns False; It is during the week, but not a vacation - we do not sleep in.

The solution for the problem is in the highlighted section of the problem definition. Your job is to express this in pure logic - if not weekday or vacation.

To test your implementation, click the Go button and you will see some extensive tests being run and the output from each test case, your implementation must be correct for each test case.

Must

• Complete the first three problems on CodingBat:
  • sleep_in (solution described above)
  • monkey_trouble
  • sum_double
• Submit your solutions as a single Word document (or image) containing a cropped screenshot showing your implementation and test cases.

Could

Complete more CodingBat challenges.