comp1511-revision-session-questions

Practical programming problems for the 23T3 CSESoc COMP1511 revision session.

Setup

This repository integrates with the CSE Autotest system as the problems are intended to be run through tests hosted on CSE servers using CSE Autotest.

To set up this repository locally for writing Autotest-compatible tests:

First clone the repository:

$ git clone https://github.com/Allynixtor/comp1511-23T3-revision-session.git
$ cd comp1511-23T3-revision-session

Then, run the following command to set up your environment:

$ ./setup.sh

This will attempt to install the Autotest source code in /usr/local/bin/autotest.

It will also create a symlink at /usr/local/bin/autotest.sh to the autotest.sh in this repo script so you can run it from anywhere. Make sure you have /usr/local/bin in your PATH.

Problem Writing

To write a problem, go into the ./problems directory, copy-paste the problem_template folder and rename it.

Let's look at each component of the problem folder:

problem_template
├── autotest
│   ├── other_files.c
│   ├── other_files.h
│   ├── test_problem_template.c
│   └── tests.txt
├── files
│   ├── Makefile
│   ├── other_files.c
│   ├── other_files.h
│   ├── problem_template.c
│   └── test_problem_template.c
├── solution
│   └── problem_template.c
└── main.md

The autotest directory contains the files that will be used to run autotest. It contains:

• autotest/other_files.c: A file containing functions you use to set up and run the problem and handle tasks that are not specific to the problem e.g. taking input from stdin, printing to stdout. You should modify or replace this file.
• autotest/other_files.h: A header for other_files.c. May include things like #include, #define, function prototypes etc. Links the other_files.c file to the test_problem_template.c file. You should modify or replace this file.
• autotest/test_problem_template.c: A file used to run the solver's code and get its result. The stdout outpu of this file will be used by autotest to compare the output of the solver with the expected output. You should modify this file.
• autotest/tests.txt: A file containing the tests for the problem. Used by autotest. You should add your tests to this file.

The files directory is the directory that will be made available to students to solve your problem. It contains:

• files/other_files.c, files/other_files.h and files/test_problem_template.c, all of which should be the same as the files in autotest. Make sure you keep them identical to the corresponding file in autotest.
• files/Makefile: Optional. You can delete this if you don't want to use it.
• files/problem_template.c: A template file for students to put their code in to solve the problem. You do not need to modify this file, but make sure you call the function inside this file in your test_problem_template.c file.

The solution directory contains a single file problem_template.c which looks like the files/problem_template.c file, but has a working solution to your problem. It is not made available to students. It is used by autotest to generate expected outputs from your test cases which will be used to test students' solutions. Code up your solution to your problem in this file.

The main.md file explains your problem to students attempting to solve it, input input format, output format, samples, how to run the program, and solution.

Writing Test Cases

Once you have coded up your solution in solution/problem_template.c, write up test cases in autotest/tests.txt. Have a look at the test cases from the other problems or CSE's Autotest System repo for a guide.

Then, generate expected outputs for your test cases:

$ cd <problem_template>
$ ../../autotest.sh <problem_template> --generate_expected_output=update --directory solution --autotest_directory autotest 

where <problem_template> is the name of the directory containing your problem. This will generate expected outputs and append them to the autotest/tests.txt file.

Then try running autotest on your solution:

$ cd solution
$ autotest.sh <problem_template>

Students will run the same command, but from the files directory instead of the solution directory.