nwelchr / screwedoku

Screwedoku

Overview

At the surface, this project is about learning and recognizing common ruby errors.

Almost all of these errors are bugs that students hit in their projects (and that engineers hit in the real world).

But this project is really about training you to think and debug like an engineer. The faster you narrow down bugs:

1. The faster you learn.
2. The more time you save each time you debug something new.
3. The more you can solve problems on your own.

Don'ts

Do NOT look up code on the master branch during the project. Looking up the answer is cheating and defies the purpose of the project.

Do NOT give other students the solution when they ask you. Only offer them new approaches that they can take.

Tips

Make a list of strategies you've been using to debug as you go along.

If you want to print something out, use the debugger instead. Stop the code and poke around. Don't use puts statements if you can avoid it.

If you get stuck and need ideas, reference our debugging cheatsheet.

Instructions

Setup

1. Download the zip file.
2. Run bundle install.
3. Start on the master branch, which has a working version of the game.

Gameplay

Fix all the levels.

0. List all the levels by running git branch.
1. Run ruby sudoku.rb on the master branch and fill a few spots to get a feel for how the game works with correct code.

Starting with level-1, for each level:

1. Check out that level's code (e.g., run git checkout level-1, git checkout level-2, etc.).
2. Run ruby sudoku.rb and try to fill a few spots. You can catch every bug within two turns.
3. Your game will break somehow.
4. Figure out how to fix it using the strategies you've learned. You are allowed to write extra code and new methods if necessary. You are allowed to use the scientific method. Your approaches are allowed to be creative.
5. If you run out of approaches and are dumbfounded for more than 5 minutes, ask students near you for approaches to try.
6. Run ruby sudoku.rb and make sure the game plays like the master version. If the game works after two turns, you're done!
7. Add and commit your change once the code works. Don't push. Reference git-workflow if you need it (especially the "Working" section).

Check out the final-level and super-evil-level at the end.

Bonus

If you'd like, change the git origin to point at a Github repo you create and push your completed project there. Hint: You'll want to push all of your branches. Maybe Google can help you find out how...

Make up three new levels (each on different branches) with three new tricky errors. Get another group that has finished to try them.