Programming Exercises
For Chapter 6
THIS PAGE CONTAINS programming exercises based on material from Chapter 6 of this on-line Java textbook. Each exercise has a link to a discussion of one possible solution of that exercise.
Exercise 6.1: Write an applet that shows a pair of dice. When the user clicks on the applet, the dice should be rolled (that is, the dice should be assigned newly computed random values). Each die should be drawn as a square showing from 1 to 6 dots. Since you have to draw two dice, its a good idea to write a subroutine, "void drawDie(Graphics g, int val, int x, int y)", to draw a die at the specified (x,y) coordinates. The second parameter, val, specifes the value that is showing on the die. Assume that the size of the applet is 100 by 100 pixels. Here is a working version of the applet. (My applet plays a clicking sound when the dice are rolled. See the solution to see how this is done.)
Exercise 6.2: Improve your dice applet from the previous exercise so that it also responds to keyboard input. When the applet has the input focus, it should be hilited with a colored border, and the dice should be rolled whenever the user presses a key on the keyboard. This is in addition to rolling them when the user clicks the mouse on the applet. Here is an applet that solves this exercise:
Exercise 6.3: In Exercise 6.1, above, you wrote a pair-of-dice applet where the dice are rolled when the clicks on the applet. Now make a pair-of-dice applet that uses the methods discussed in Section 6.6. Draw the dice on a "canvas", and place a "Roll" button below the canvas. The dice should be rolled when the user clicks the Roll button. Your applet should look and work like this one:
(Note: Since there was only one button in this applet, I added it directly to the applet, rather than putting it in a "buttonBar" panel and adding the panel to the applet.)
Exercise 6.4: In Exercise 3.5, you drew a checkerboard. For this exercise, write a checkerboard applet where the user can select a square by clicking on it. Hilite the selected square by drawing a colored border around it. When the applet is first created, no square is selected. When the user clicks on a square that is not currently selected, it becomes selected. If the user clicks the square that is selected, it becomes unselected. Assume that the size of the applet is 160 by 160 pixels, so that each square on the checkerboard is 20 by 20 pixels. Here is a working version of the applet:
Exercise 6.5: Write an applet that shows two squares. The user should be able to drag either square with the mouse. (You'll need an instance variable to remember which square the user is dragging.) The user can drag the square off the applet if she wants; if she does this, it's gone. You can try it here:
Exercise 6.6: For this exercise, you should modify the SubKiller game from Section 6.5. You can start with the existing source code, from the file SubKillerGame.java. Modify the game so it keeps track of the number of hits and misses and displays these quantities. That is, every time the depth charge blows up the sub, the number of hits goes up by one. Every time the depth charge falls off the bottom of the screen without hitting the sub, the number of misses goes up by one. There is room at the top of the applet to display these numbers. To do this exercise, you only have to add a half-dozen lines to the source code. But you have to figure out what they are and where to add them. To do this, you'll have to read the source code closely enough to understand how it works.
See the solution! (A working version of the applet can be found here.)
Exercise 6.7: Section 3.7 discussed SimpleAnimationApplet, a framework for writing simple animations. You can define an animation by writing a subclass and defining a drawFrame() method. It is possible to have the subclass implement the MouseListener interface. Then, you can have an animation that responds to mouse clicks.
Write a game in which the user tries to click on a little square that jumps erratically around the applet. To implement this, use instance variables to keep track of the position of the square. In the drawFrame() method, there should be a certain probability that the square will jump to a new location. (You can experiment to find a probability that makes the game play well.) In your mousePressed method, check whether the user clicked on the square. Keep track of and display the number of times that the user hits the square and the number of times that the user misses it. Don't assume that you know the size of the applet in advance.
See the solution! (A working version of the applet can be found here.)
Exercise 6.8:Write a Blackjack applet that lets the user play a game of Blackjack, with the computer as the dealer. The applet should draw the user's cards and the dealer's cards, just as was done for the graphical HighLow card game in Section 6.6. You can use the source code for that game, HighLowGUI.java, for some ideas about how to write your Blackjack game. The structures of the HighLow applet and the Blackjack applet are very similar. You will certainly want to use the drawCard() method from that applet.
You can find a description of the game of Blackjack in Exercise 5.5. Add the following rule to that description: If a player takes five cards without going over 21, that player wins immediately. This rule is used in some casinos. For your applet, it means that you only have to allow room for five cards. You should assume that your applet is just wide enough to show five cards, and that it is tall enough to show the user's hand and the dealer's hand.
Note that the design of a GUI Blackjack game is very different from the design of the text-oriented program that you wrote for Exercise 5.5. The user should play the game by clicking on "Hit" and "Stand" buttons. There should be a "New Game" button that can be used to start another game after one game ends. You have to decide what happens when each of these buttons are pressed. You don't have much chance of getting this right unless you think in terms of the states that the game can be in and how the state can change.
Your program will need the classes defined in Card.java, Hand.java, BlackjackHand.java, and Deck.java. Here is a working version of the applet:
[ Chapter Index | Main Index ]