Projects

This page contains a list of projects (a.k.a. assignments or homework). I strongly encourage you to work through these projects! Actually writing programs is the only real way to master the problem solving skills of a software engineer.

Here are easy starter projects:

U-Turn

Write a function that will direct Karel to perform a U-turn, that is to turn around 180 degrees so that he ends up facing the opposite direction from his direction before he executes the function. Use the "7x7 turning practice" world to test.

Turn Right

Suppose that Karel did not have a built-in 'turnRight()' command. How could you implement one yourself? Write the code and test it. (NOTE: you'll have to use a different name than 'turnRight' since that function name is already used.) Use the "7x7 turning practice" world to test.

Face East

Karel knows how to answer the questions, "am I facing North?" ('isFacingNorth()'), "am I facing South?" ('isFacingSouth()'), etc. He also knows how to answer the question, "what direction am I facing? ('getDirection()'). And of course, Karel knows how to turn ('turnLeft()' and 'turnRight()'). Using these capabilities, how could you implement a function that ensures that Karel is facing east, regardless of the direction Karel is facing before the function is invoked? Write the code and test it. Use the "7x7 turning practice" world to test.

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Here are some more projects that are a bit more challenging:

Pick Up All Beepers

Suppose Karel is put into a world of unknown dimensions with no interior walls (just borders) at some unknown location within the world, and some number of beepers scattered within the world. Note that Karel can tell how many beepers are in the world ('getNumBeepersInWorld()'). Write a program which instructs Karel to pick up all of the beepers in the world until there are no more. Use the "8x8 with beepers #1", etc. worlds to test. Use the "8x8 with random beepers" world to test even further.

Create a Banner

Suppose Karel is put at (1,1) facing north in a world of unknown dimensions but "big enough" to "draw" up to three letters (see below), and with no interior walls. Karel starts with "lots" of beepers in his bag, enough so he won't "run out". Write a program which instructs Karel to drop beepers in a pattern to spell out "CAT" using beepers dropped on intersections in the world. Use the "12x8 with beepers in bag" world to test. Advanced: create functions for each letter of the alphabet so that it is easy to spell any (short) word using beepers. Using upper case only letters is acceptable.

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Here are some projects that are even more challenging:

Run the Hurdles

Suppose Karel is placed at (1,1) facing east in a world of unknown dimensions with a series of "hurdles" (vertical walls of varying heights) coming up from the bottom border of his world. Write a program which instructs Karel to "run the hurdles" (move east, going up and over each hurdle). The program should stop when Karel finds a beeper, which marks the end of the race. Use the "12x4 with hurdles #1", etc. worlds to test. Use the "12x4 with random hurdles" world to test even further.

Escape a Maze

Suppose Karel is placed at (1,1) facing north in a world of unknown dimensions with an unknown number of walls (in unknown locations) configured like a traditional "maze". Karel's job is to get to the end of the maze, as marked by a lone beeper in the world. Karel must navigate the maze, being sure not to crash into any walls or boundaries. Use the "12x12 maze #1", etc. worlds to test.