University of Derby

School of Computing

Programming Component Specification

Module Code and Title: Programming I (4CC510)
Component No. and Title: (1) Calculator Exercise
Weighting Towards Module Grade: 30%

Assessment Tutor: Dr Tommy Thompson

Date Set:
Wednesday 6th October 2015

Hand-In Deadline Date:

Tuesday 3rd November 2015
Level of Collaboration
This is an individual assignment. No collaboration with other students or any one else is
allowed.

Learning Outcomes covered in this Assignment:

1. Design, develop and test small scale computer programs.

Penalty for Late Submission

Recognising that deadlines are an integral part of professional workplace practice, the University
expects students to meet all agreed deadlines for submission of assessments. Failure to submit on
time will be treated as a non-submission (NS). However, the University acknowledges that there
may be circumstances which prevent students from meeting deadlines. There are now three distinct
processes in place to deal with differing student circumstances, listed below.
Assessed Extended Deadline (AED) - Students with disabilities or long term health issues are
entitled to a Support Plan. A students support plan will specify whether they are entitled to any
extended deadlines.
Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances (EEC) The EEC policy applies to situations where
serious, unforeseen circumstances prevent the student from completing the assignment on time or
to the normal standard.
Late Submission - Requests for late submission will be made to the relevant Subject Manager in
the Department (or Head of Joint Honours for joint honours students) who can authorise an
extension of up to a maximum of one week.

Programming Assignment

Programming 1 4CC510

Task
Throughout the opening five weeks of this module, we cover the fundamentals required for
imperative and procedural-based programming. This can be broken down into the core topics of
the Programming I syllabus:
-

Variables and Expressions

Conditionals (IF, SWITCH)
Loops (FOR, WHILE)
Methods and Program Structure

We will now explore all of these topics within the confines of a specific exercise that utilises all
programming skills you have learned thus far.
Note: Upon first reading this document, it might not be immediately clear how to proceed with this
assessed component. If this is the case, there is no need to panic: while it may not be obvious at
first, all of the learning material required to cover this assignment is provided in the first four
weeks of the module. Attendance in lectures during this period, as well as reading the provided
material and trying your hand at the practice exercises will prepare you adequately for this
exercise.

My First Calculator
Undoubtedly one of the first computation-based device many people use as part of their schooling
is a calculator. While we may not consider them as such, calculators are computational devices and
require programming for them to work. As such, your task is to build a mixture of both basic and
advanced programming functions to run via a console prompt.
In an effort not only to formalise the assessment process, but also given some guidance, sample
code is provided for this assessed component on Course Resources.

Part 1 How The Calculator Works

Our calculator is reliant upon one sole public method Calculate. This method has the following
structure:
public string Calculate(double number, char operator)
{
//Code missing here.
}
This method is assumed to be taking in the individual values and operators needed by the
calculator. By calling this method, it will continue to remember what the ongoing calculation is
and will return the current accumulator which represents the current answer of the calculation as a
string. An example of how to use this calculator in the Main method is shown below:
Calculator myCalculator = new Calculator();
string s1 = myCalculator.Calculate(3, +); //s1 = 3
string s2 = myCalculator.Calculate(3, =); //s2 = 6
string s3 = myCalculator.Calculate(4, -); //s3 = 4
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Programming 1 4CC510

string s4 = myCalculator.Calculate(2, =); //s4 = 2

As you can see, at every method call the calculator returns the current accumulator, the actual value
still being stored. It will then either use this value to calculate the next step until a terminal
operator is entered. The first terminal character we introduce is =, at which point it will then
calculate the final answer. However, there are several terminal characters introduced further down
in this exercise. In addition, should you attempt to do something that is an illegal operation, such
as dividing by zero, then it should return the string ERROR, as shown below:
Calculator myCalculator = new Calculator();
string s1 = myCalculator.Calculate(3, /); //s1 = 3
string s2 = myCalculator.Calculate(0, =); //s2 = ERROR
As part of the existing code, we have provided the method signature, but it is up to you to write
the code for this method.

Part 2 Making the Calculations

While the Calculate method helps return the current state of the calculator, it is not responsible for
each individual operation. As a result, you need to write a series of methods in order for this to
work. These are broken down into basic and advanced calculator functions.
To help you get started, we provide the first function: Add
private double Add(double number1, double number2)
{
double output = number1 + number2;
output = Math.Round(output, 2);
return output;
}
This method takes two numbers and adds them together. It also ensures that any output is returned
at most to two decimal places. Note that all calculator methods must return numbers rounded
to two decimal places. In addition, note that we do not dictate when that method is called, you
must figure out in the Calculate method, when Add needs to be called. It is a private method,
meaning we cannot call this method from outside of the Calculator class. It is called once the +
command has been entered in the Calculate method.
With this provided as guidance, you must complete the following additional functions:

Basic Functions
-

double Subtract(double, double): Taking two numbers, calculate the subtraction between
the two.
o Is called when the - character is used in Calculate.

double Multiply(double, double): Return the product of multiplying two numbers.

o Is called when the * character is used in Calculate.

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Programming 1 4CC510

double Divide(double, double): Returns the product of dividing the first number by the
second.
o Is called when the / character is used in Calculate.

Advanced Functions
-

int Factorial(int): Taking in a non-negative integer, calculate the Factorial of the number:
the product of all positive integers less than or equal to it.
o Is called when the ! character is used in Calculate.
o Note: ! is a terminal character and will end the current calculation.

double Power(double, double): Calculates the first number to the power of the second
number.
o e.g.: Power(2,3) will return 8, given 8 is 23.
o Is called when the ^ character is used in Calculate.
o Note: There is existing code in the C# language to calculate numbers to a specific
power.

double Root(double): Calculate the square root of a given number.

o Is called when the \ character is used in Calculate.
o Note: There is existing code in the C# language to calculate the square root of a
number.
o Note: \ is a terminal character and will end the current calculation.

double Modulus(double, double): Calculates the modulus of a given number: the

remainder after having divided a first number by the second. This is once again something
that is provided for as a C# operator.
o Is called when the % character is used in Calculate.

Part 3 Testing
As part of this assignment, a sample solution, complete with the starting code for Calculate and
Add is available from week 3 of the semester. Allowing you four weeks to ensure your code is
compliant with this test solution.
In this solution, you can run your code in specific circumstances thousands of times, to ascertain
how effective it is in certain problems. The sample version released will test a large number of
combinations of values and basic functions, resulting in a total success rate. The total success rate
of these tests will be displayed on screen when you run the solution as well as indicating the
success rate of specific test types (Additions, Subtractions etc.) You can then use this to focus on
what parts of the code base are not working correctly.
Note that the solution provided does not handle testing for advanced functions. Should you wish to
test these it is your responsibility to write this test code.
A final testing solution, in which you should copy your Calculator.cs file, will be made available in
week 6. This is the final testing solution that you must submit your calculator in. The total success
rate, as indicated by this final testing solution, will account for 80% for this assessed component,
with the final 20% an assessment of your coding style. This will be achieved by scoring you against
Programming Assignment

Programming 1 4CC510

a range of basic and advanced functions as well as combinations of the two in the same
mathematical expression.

A Word on Programming Style

As noted earlier in this document, 20% of your final grade is based upon a short assessment of the
style used in order to write your program. This is broken down into four categories worth 5% each
and are only given should the assessor be 100% satisfied that the criteria for this style category is
fulfilled, i.e. one mistake in your style will forfeit the full 5% for this category. A brief summary is
given below:

Naming Conventions: Adequate choice of variable and/or method names. Method names
fit that dictated by the specification. Additional methods/variables not dictated by
specification or sample solution are named using camelCase format.
Indentation: Code is properly and allows for ease-of-reading and understanding.
Parenthesis: Appropriate use of brackets and braces where needed. No extraneous
brackets/braces found within the code.
Line-Spacing: One statement/declaration per line, with one blank line between methods.

Please consult the MSDN document on C# programming style and examples provided from
lectures for further guidance.

Part 4 Submission
Completion of this component will be achieved courtesy of an assessment submission point that
will be made available in the Course Resources site for Programming I in week 6 of the semester.
In order to be graded for this submission, the following conditions must be satisfied:
1. The final solution, detailed in Part 3, complete with your Calculator.cs, must be submitted
to the online submission point no later than 23:59pm on the Monday of Week 7 (i.e. 2nd
November 2015).
2. The student must attend their designated tutorial slot on the Tuesday of Week 7 (3rd
November) to participate in the grading process.
3. Student must then present their submission by downloading it from the Course Resources
submission point: allowing for an assessment of style, in addition to running the
performance tests in the code.
4. Student must also be able to answer questions on their work at the assessors discretion.
Failure to satisfy this criteria will result in a failing grade being attributed to this component.

Reminder: Plagiarism/Collaboration Warning

Any and all submissions will be checked to see if there is any evidence of collaboration with other
students. If we suspect that you have submitted work that is not your own, we may ask you to
attend a meeting to explain your work to us so that we can ensure that it is your own work. The
exercises are supposed to be your own work that demonstrates your own abilities. Do not ask to
see the work of other students and do not share your work with other students. The penalties for
plagiarism or collaboration are severe.

Programming Assignment

Programming 1 4CC510