Programming challenge. Given the API documentation for a simulation of a town, define a method, travel(), for a corresponding class, Vehicle, that will navigate the town, seeking a target location randomly selected by the simulator at run time.
Given an executable Java Archive, Simulator.jar, which simulates a town, define and add the Vehicle class having a constructor with the following signature:
public Vehicle(Simulator s)and a method, travel() with the following signature:
public void travel()that provides the functionality to allow an instance of Vehicle (instantiated by the Simulator class file within Simulator.jar) to navigate the town
described below. The Simulator proceeds step by step calling the travel() method once every second, so any code in travel()
should ideally be designed to return control to the simulator's main method after each call. Simulation runs repeatedly until window is
closed.
The Simulator prints messages to the console as it runs. These messages indicate the location of the vehicle as it navigates and may assist in writing and debugging the Vehicle class. In the example above the vehicle is represented by the orange square, the goal by the green, streets by the light gray squares, and buildings by dark gray. In the example, the vehicle drives past the goal and crashes at the end of First Street; the crash state is indicated by the vehicle turning red.
The messages printed to the console during this example run of the Simulator looked like this:
Continuing on First Street.
Continuing on First Street.
Continuing on First Street.
Crashed on First Street.
To complete this challenge you must have the Java Development Kit (JDK 7 minimum) installed on your device.
To begin, create a Github account if you don't have one, login, and on your homepage click "Explore" in the navigation bar. In the search box search prgmng-challenge/Town-Simulator and navigate to this repository. At the top-right click "Fork" to create a copy of this repo in your own account. In your forked repo, click the "branch" dropdown, enter a new name and press ENTER to create a new branch to make changes to, to avoid altering your original copy of the repo. Navigate to the src folder and click the Simulator.jar file. Click "Download" to download a copy of the Simulator.jar file to work with locally. Navigate back to the src folder and do the same for the Vehicle.java file.
Once you are done writing your code, navigate to the 'submissions' folder and read the contents of the Submission Guidelines file. Create the folder and contents as described there click "Upload files", upload your folder, and click "Commit Changes" to finalize. Next, click "New Pull Request", and finally "Create Pull Request". If this is successful, you will have completed your submission.
Alternatively, you may use GitHub Desktop or a local installation of git to perform these steps, depending on your comfort with
Github.
Get Started with Github Desktop
Install git locally (not necessary for Github Desktop)
In the folder prgmng-challenge/Town-Simulator/src you will find a Java Archive (.jar) file named Simulator.jar and a template
for the Vehicle class named Vehicle.java. To build and test your code, You will complete the definition of the Vehicle class,
compile, then add the resulting .class file to Simulator.jar by using the jar tool in the terminal or Command Prompt. This
is done as follows:
jar uf Simulator.jar Vehicle.class
jar xf Simulator.jar <-- Extract JAR, use an empty directory
del Vehicle.class <-- Change del to rm for UNIX/Linux
jar cvfm Simulator.jar META-INF\MANIFEST.MF *.class <--Use forward slash for UNIX/Linux
java -jar Simulator.jar
public String get_location()
Returns current location of vehicle as a String.
public String get_goal()
Returns target location set at run time as a String.
public String look_ahead(String direction)
Takes as an argument a cardinal direction: "NORTH", "SOUTH", "EAST", "WEST". Returns the location one step ahead as a String.
public void drive(String direction)
Accepts as an argument a cardinal direction: "NORTH", "SOUTH", "EAST", "WEST". Moves the vehicle in the direction indicated in the
argument.
if location is currently somewhere on Main Street the following prints "Main Street".
Simulator simulator = new Simulator();
current_location = simulator.get_location()
System.out.println(current_location); If location just ahead in the direction given is off the map or a location that would result in a crash, such as a building, the following prints "Invalid Location".
Simulator simulator = new Simulator();
looking_west = simulator.look_ahead("WEST")
System.out.println(looking_west);