Gosse Kooistra

The Open University uses real people marking the programming / solution document. They often work part time for the university as lecturers / tutors. Most often they do this besides their careers in the industry, so in theory they should have the experience to find issues.

Unfortunately I am not in a position to apply anywhere else, as I would have to resit a full year, as each university has its own subjects they teach, and they don't always match another university.

Looking at your explanation, it makes totally sense. This is the exact kind of feedback I was looking for. I wish my course was more like that and would supply me with more feedback to improve myself. Thanks

public int promptForNumOfRepeats()     {          int moves = 0;      boolean repeatDialog = true;            while(repeatDialog)      {         try          {            moves = Integer.parseInt(OUDialog.request("Please enter the number of"               + " action repeats to be performed - between 1 and 3 (inclusive)"));            repeatDialog = false;         }         catch(NumberFormatException anException)          {            moves = 0;               }      }      return moves;   }

That was the answer that I came up with, and gave me full marks

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Your constructor is leaving the wizard controller object in an inconsistent state, with too few repeats. Use the same names for the parameters as you did for the fields if you are using the this.xxx = ...; idiom.
Your promptRepeats() method doesn't set the repeats.
Your getRepeats() method shouldn't prompt for corrections. Make your methods each do one thing and one thing only.
Have you been told to use that method for IO? There are better ways to read from the keyboard.

The code I posted in the previous post, is the unfinished code. As I am not allowed to post the completed version due to uni policy. And yes, I must use that method for IO. I got full marks on this specific part of the assignment.
What do you think of the overall level of code? Is this what is expected of a BSc level course, or is it below the expected level?

Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:I went to an in person university and it didn't prepare me for the OCA either. I don't college is designed to do that. Nor is a job. That's why study guides exist .

That said, when you interview for a job, interviewers will want to see internship experience or a project you did for fun. So signing up for a free github.com account and writing some code (ex: a game) gives you something to talk about at your interview besides school.

If others are struggling and you are doing well, it suggests you have an affinity for the topic. Which is good to have in a career . Learning more is still good though and will help set you apart.

Thank you. I always continue studying certain subjects to improve on my skill set. Thats the reason I am studying for the exam, whilst following your study guide.

Campbell Ritchie wrote:

Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:. . . . I don't [think] college is designed to do that. Nor is a job. That's why study guides exist .

No, the cert exams test knowledge completely different from what you learn at University and also different from what you use on the job. Somebody like Liutauras or Tim C will know a lot more than me, but I think people get an entry level job and then work for a cert later, or more frequently, an MSc.
And let's have a “disclosure of interests” about how many cert exam guides you wrote

. . . internship experience or a project you did for fun.

Same on this side of the Pond. Many courses here are four‑year “thick” sandwich courses. That includes a year's internship . . . with a salary attached. The teaching staff visit every student on industrial placement to verify they are still there . . . and to verify that they are being given something wothwhile to do.

. . . you have an affinity for the topic. . . ..

I hope you are right and not that the assignments are set too easy. If GK shows us some code, we can have a look at it and it should be easy to assess its quality.
Open Univrsity is sort of “in person”. Although much of the teaching is delivered via TV the Net, students should meet a supervisor in person regularly and go away for intensive short courses. Maybe that interaction has been lost under CoViD; Universities have been very keen to minimise the risk of appearing on the front page of thee newspaper as, “983645837629856239846593874 CoViD cases at XYZ University”.

The following code snippet is from the wizardcontroller class. This was the final piece of course work at the end of the year, just before the exam.

import ou.*; /** * Write a description of class WizardController here. * * @author (your name) * @version (a version number or a date) */ public class WizardController {   /**    * instance variables    */     private Wizard wizard1;   private Wizard wizard2;   private int numOfRepeats;     private static final int MIN_NUM_REPEATS = 1;   private static final int MAX_NUM_REPEATS = 3;     public static final int LAST_CELL = 11;     /**    * Constructor for objects of class WizardController.    */   public WizardController(Wizard aWizard1, Wizard aWizard2)   {      super();      this.wizard1 = aWizard1;      this.wizard2 = aWizard2;      this.numOfRepeats = 0;         }   /* instance methods */     /**    * Prompts the user for a number of action repeats    * in the range 1 to 3 inclusive, and returns this number.    */   public int promptForNumOfRepeats()     {     int moves;         moves = Integer.parseInt(OUDialog.request("Please enter the number of"         + " action repeats to be performed - between 1 and 3 (inclusive)"));     return moves;   }        /**    * Returns true if the argument is in the range 1 to 3 (inclusive),    * otherwise false.    */   public boolean isValidNumOfRepeats(int aNumber)   {      return ((aNumber >= WizardController.MIN_NUM_REPEATS)      && (aNumber <= WizardController.MAX_NUM_REPEATS));   }       /**    * Repeatedly prompts the user for a number of repeats of the moves,    * until they enter a valid input representing a number in the range 1 to 3    * inclusive, and  then returns this number.    */       public int getNumOfRepeats()   {      int repeats = this.promptForNumOfRepeats();      while (!this.isValidNumOfRepeats(repeats))      {         OUDialog.alert("That is not a valid number of game repeats");         repeats = this.promptForNumOfRepeats();          }      return repeats;   }     //    /** //     * Return wizards to starting positions and asks the //     * user how many repeats to perform //     */ //    public void setUpWizards() //    { //       this.wizard1.homeX(); //       this.wizard1.homeY(); //       this.wizard2.homeX(); //       this.wizard2.homeY(); //       this.numOfRepeats = this.getNumOfRepeats(); //    }   //    /** //     * flys the wizards //     */ //    public void flyWizards() //    { //       boolean magic = true; //       WizardController.jump(wizard1); //       WizardController.jump(wizard2); //       WizardController.travel(wizard1,magic); //       WizardController.travel(wizard2,magic); //       WizardController.jump(wizard1); //       WizardController.jump(wizard2); //    }   //    /** //     * slithers the wizards //     */ //    public void slitherWizards() //    { //       boolen noMagic = false; //       WizardController.travel(wizard1,noMagic); //       WizardController.travel(wizard2,noMagic); //       WizardController.jump(wizard1); //       WizardController.jump(wizard2); //    }   /**    * delay appears  to pause action for the number of milli seconds passed as argument    */   public static void delay(int ms)   {      try{         Thread.sleep(ms);      }      catch(Exception e)      {         System.out.println("Problem in delay methods");      }   } }


A part of the question was the following:

The WizardController class has the following private instance variables:
Two variables of type Wizard:
wizard1 and wizard2

which represent the wizards performing the moves;

A variable of type int:
numOfRepeats

which holds the number of times the moves are to be repeated;

It also has three int class constants:

MIN_NUM_REPEATS and MAX_NUM_REPEATS
which hold the minimum and maximum number of times the moves can be repeated.

LAST_CELL
which holds the maximum cell number permitted in the X direction.

The class has a single constructor that takes two arguments of type Wizard and assigns them to the two Wizard instance variables.

You are now going to write the various methods in WizardController that animate the wizards. In order to follow the motion of the wizards properly you will need to slow the animation down. To help you do this we have provided a class method delay() in the WizardController class.

e.g. If you want a delay of 100 ms you would insert the following statement at the appropriate point in your code.:

WizardController.delay(100);
Remember to use delay() at the appropriate point in each of the methods you write to animate the wizards.'

You should remind yourself of methods the Wizard class provides now as you will need to use these in your code.

Remember that you cannot make use of the Wizard method getPersona() within the WizardController class.

i.Write a public class method jump() that returns nothing. It should make the wizard passed as argument jump up one cell position from its current cell then return to its original cell.
Now create an instance of wizard and execute the jump() method passing it as argument to check this works as expected. You'll find code in the README file that will help you with this.

(3 marks)

ii.Next you are going to create a public class method travel() that takes a single argument of type Wizard and returns no value.
The wizard should move left or right as appropriate one cell at a time.

If the wizard's cellX value is currently LAST_CELL it should move so that its cellX value is 0.
Otherwise it should move so that its value is LAST_CELL.
Test your code to make sure the wizard behaves as expected.

(5 marks)

iii.Add an additional boolean argument isMagic to your travel() method, that governs whether the wizard moves straight to its destination or cell by cell in a loop.
Amend the code body of travel() so that for each path, if the argument isMagic is true then the wizard moves straight to its final destination so that cellX is 0 or LAST_CELL as before.

Otherwise the wizard should move as in part (b)(ii).

Test your code to make sure the altered behaviour of the wizard is as expected.

(3 marks)

iv.Write a public class method switchTrack() that takes two arguments of type Wizard and returns no value. The method should switch the cellY values of the two wizards.
(3 marks)

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Welcome to the Ranch

Where are you reading this course? How do you manage to get 95%? In most BSc courses, 60%+ counts as a “good” mark (≡2i). I would expect a computer sciences course to include algorithms and data structures, principles of computing, logic, databases, etc., as well as simple language work.

I am studying the course at the open University in the UK. Done modules such as the algorithms one, which was done with mainly python, exploring the big o stuff. Did not go very in depth to be honest.

The java module says it covers enough for a BSc but would not be anywhere near for example a old OCA exam.  I do not know how I score so well, as others seem to struggle with it. I just do not feel like I am learning anything, and would like to get myself ready for a job in the industry, considering I'm in my final year.

Hello All,

Currently I am studying a general computer science course, which includes subjects such as Java and Python. It also covers general items such as connections, wireless and wired, and the technologies behind this.

This course is supposed to be at bachelors level. Personally I question the quality of the course, as I do not feel like I am learning anything. Exams I pass easy with a 95%+ average, and I can easily replicate their code examples and get it working. Looking at other projects online, I feel like I do not understand enough of it, and don't get the support from the university course.

Now I feel like I need to do something extra, to get ready for the job market. I would like to get into the java side of the job market, to start with, purely as a entry point. I've been looking at the OCPJP exam for java 11. Would studying this material, and passing this exam, give me a good entry point into the job market, or are there other things I really need to study, that are essential to get a starters job?

Thanks, Gosse.