staging-phase0_unit2_week1.mdown

Unit 2, Week 1: Object-Oriented Design

By the end of the week, you should be able to:

• Recognize a class structure and be able to identify the instance variables and methods
• Explain how the instance variables and methods represent the characteristics and actions of an object respectively.
• Infer a class structure from driver test code
• Create, access and traverse nested arrays and understand how they can model a real world object like a board
• Understand the difference between procedural and object oriented programming and how to convert from one to the other
• See an object in the real world (say a pez dispenser) and have an idea of how to represent it as a ruby object
• Recognize a user story and be able to translate it into driver code
• Comfortably write driver code to access and manipulate a ruby object
• Understand that there are tradeoffs and costs/benefits to using different ways of structuring the objects in a program

Assignments and Challenges:

Assignments

• Give feedback on your previous pairing partner if you haven't yet. Use Feedbackinator.
• Take part in at least 1 pairing session without a teacher guiding

Coding Challenges

• Creating a PezDispenser Class
• A Nested Array to Model a Boggle Board
• Creating a BoggleBoard Class
• Debugging The Drawer

For each challenge:

1. Formulate pseudocode before solving the problem (include it as a comment when appropriate).
2. Write good test code that includes an expectation and an output. (eg puts car.doors #=> prints the number 4)
3. Refactor each solution so the names are clear and the code is concise and D.R.Y. (Don’t Repeat Yourself). Your methods should be short and have a single responsibility. Make sure your naming accurately denotes that responsibility.
4. Reflect on your process and understanding (see section below). Include your reflection as comments in your solution.