Attempted solution. :)

ruby-talk
1

From: "Brian Knoll" <brianeknoll@gmail.com>
Date: January 14, 2008 8:51:34 PM CST
To: suggestion@rubyquiz.com
Subject: Attempted solution. :slight_smile:

Hi, James,

Thanks for doing Ruby Quiz -- it was very nice to have something to focus on, rather than inane training book examples (they try hard, they really do).

I was hoping to get some feedback, as this is one of my first Ruby programs (not copied from a book or website).

Looking forward to seeing the other solutions!

_be

-------

#knock-out ruby quiz
#
#thanks to steve bristol, jacksonville, fl ruby programmer, of lesseverything.com for suggestion
#
#known issue: 3 card display doesn't work - missing an end somewhere, I think
#
#known SciTe issue - SciTe buffers all data, even backspaces. If you run it via SciTe, it tell you you were incorrect when you weren't.
# happens if you enter an answer and then change it before hitting enter
#
##########################################

###header/version
def header
    puts "Knock-Out BlackJack Card Counting trainer v0.1"
  puts ""
end

header
card_number=0 #for multiple card display

###set deck number/# cards displayed
puts "How many decks do you want to practice with? "
STDOUT.flush #needed to run correctly in SciTe
decks = gets.chomp!.to_i
puts "And how many cards to display at once? "
STDOUT.flush
cards_display = gets.chomp!.to_i

puts "#{decks} deck/s and #{cards_display} cards displayed it is!"
puts ""

###setup cards/card values/initial count value
cards =%w(2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K A) #array of cards
                                                                                                            # is there a way to setup the array with
                                                                                                          #something like: %w(2..10, JQKA)?

card_values = Hash["2", -1, "3", -1, "4", -1, "5", -1, "6", -1, "7", -1, "8", 0, "9", 0, "10", 1, "J", 1, "Q", 1,\
"K", 1, "A", 1] #card value hash - is there a more succint way of setting up the cards and hash values? It seems a little repetitive
                                            #can I assign values somehow like 2..7=-1; 8,9=0; 10,JQKA=1?
shoe = cards*4*decks
value = 4-(4*decks)
correct = 0
shoeshuf = shoe.sort_by {rand} #shuffle the cards

quit_early_rounds = 1

###user help
puts "A quick reminder: \n2-7 = -1, \n8-9 = 0,\n10-A = +1"
puts "\nAlso, the count STARTS at 4 minus (4 x num of decks)."
puts "(so with #{decks} deck/s, your count starts at #{value})"
puts "\nGood luck!"
puts ""
puts "You're going through #{decks} deck/s with #{cards_display} cards displayed."
puts ""

#start timer
timestart = Time.new

if cards_display == 1
    shoeshuf.each do |c|
            #for each card in shoeshuf array...
        value += card_values.fetch(c) #add the count value...

        #progress feedback
        if quit_early_rounds*cards_display == (shoeshuf.length)
            puts "Last one!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds*cards_display == ( shoeshuf.length) / 2 + 1
            puts "Halfway done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds*cards_display == (shoeshuf.length) / 4 + 1
            puts "1/4 done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds*cards_display == ( shoeshuf.length) * 0.75 + 1
            puts "3/4 done!"

        end

        puts c
        puts "Count? (x to quit)" #user test
        STDOUT.flush
        ans = gets.chomp!.to_s

    # answer handling/scoring
        if ans == value.to_s
            puts "Correct!"
            correct += 1
        elsif ans == 'x'
            timeend = Time.new
            time = timeend - timestart
            puts "Summary --"
            puts "You got #{correct} right out of #{quit_early_rounds}."
            percent = correct.to_f/quit_early_rounds.to_f
            puts "(That's #{(percent*100).to_i}%!)"
            puts "And it took you #{time.to_i} secs to complete #{quit_early_rounds} cards."
            exit
        elsif
            puts "Incorrect. Count is #{value}."
    end

    quit_early_rounds += 1
    puts ""

end

#calc time taken
timeend = Time.new
time = timeend - timestart

puts "Summary --"
puts "You got #{correct} right out of #{ shoeshuf.length}."
puts "(That's #{correct.to_f/shoeshuf.length.to_f}%!)"
#maybe add an evaluation statement depending on # right out of total
#percentage might be even better

puts "And it took you #{ time.to_i} secs to complete #{decks} deck/s"
#eval ... i.e. "The goal is 30 seconds for 1 deck! You are #{second} from that goal! Keep working!"
end

######################################
# 2 card display
if cards_display == 2
    puts "You said 2 cards to display"
    quit_early_rounds += 1
    while shoeshuf[card_number] != nil

        print shoeshuf[card_number] + " "
    #acount for value? (running count?)
        value += card_values.fetch(shoeshuf[card_number]) #keep count
        card_number +=1 # keep cards moving
        puts shoeshuf[card_number]
    value += card_values.fetch(shoeshuf[card_number])
        card_number +=1

        #progress feedback
        if quit_early_rounds == (shoeshuf.length)
            puts "Last one!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == ( shoeshuf.length) / 2
            puts "Halfway done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == (shoeshuf.length) / 4 + 1
            puts "1/4 done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == ( shoeshuf.length) * 0.75 + 1
            puts "3/4 done!"

        end

      puts "Running Count? (x to quit)" #user test
        STDOUT.flush
        ans = gets.chomp!.to_s

    if ans == value.to_s
        puts "Correct!"
        correct += 1
    elsif ans == 'x'
        timeend = Time.new
        time = timeend - timestart
        puts "Summary --"
    puts "You got #{correct} right out of #{quit_early_rounds}."
     percent = correct.to_f/quit_early_rounds.to_f
     puts "(That's #{(percent*100).to_i}%!)"
     puts "And it took you #{ time.to_i} secs to complete #{quit_early_rounds} cards."
        exit
    elsif
        puts "Incorrect. Count is #{value}."
    end

    quit_early_rounds += cards_display
    puts ""

end

######################################
# 3 card display -- having trouble with this -- when you enter 3 (or anything other than 1-2) you skip out -- end issues?
if cards_display == 3
    puts "You said 3 cards to display"
    quit_early_rounds += 1
    while shoeshuf[card_number] != nil

        print shoeshuf[card_number] + " "
    #acount for value? (running count?)
        value += card_values.fetch(shoeshuf[card_number]) #keep count
        card_number +=1 # keep cards moving
        print shoeshuf[card_number] + " "
    value += card_values.fetch(shoeshuf[card_number])
        card_number +=1
        puts shoeshuf[card_number]
    value += card_values.fetch(shoeshuf[card_number])
        card_number +=1

        #progress feedback
        if quit_early_rounds == ( shoeshuf.length)
            puts "Last one!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == (shoeshuf.length) / 2
            puts "Halfway done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == ( shoeshuf.length) / 4 + 1
            puts "1/4 done!"

        elsif quit_early_rounds == (shoeshuf.length) * 0.75 + 1
            puts "3/4 done!"

        end

      puts "Running Count? (x to quit)" #user test
        STDOUT.flush
        ans = gets.chomp!.to_s

    if ans == value.to_s
        puts "Correct!"
        correct += 1
    elsif ans == 'x'
        timeend = Time.new
        time = timeend - timestart
        puts "Summary --"
    puts "You got #{correct} right out of #{quit_early_rounds}."
     percent = correct.to_f/quit_early_rounds.to_f
     puts "(That's #{(percent*100).to_i}%!)"
     puts "And it took you #{time.to_i} secs to complete #{quit_early_rounds} cards."
        exit
    elsif
        puts "Incorrect. Count is #{value}."
    end

    quit_early_rounds += cards_display
    puts ""

end

end

#calc time taken
timeend = Time.new
time = timeend - timestart

puts "Summary --"
puts "You got #{correct} right out of #{shoeshuf.length}."
puts "(That's #{correct.to_f/shoeshuf.length.to_f }%!)"
#maybe add an evaluation statement depending on # right out of total
#percentage might be even better

puts "And it took you #{time.to_i} secs to complete #{decks} deck/s"
#eval ... i.e . "The goal is 30 seconds for 1 deck! You are #{second} from that goal! Keep working!"

#getting an error on this line? undefined method "+" for nil class, but prog runs fine
#account for value? (running count?)

#need some feedback DURING the process to let you know where you are in
#process, ESP with more than 1 decks

#when do you bet with knockout? depends on the number of decks
#

···

Begin forwarded message:

2

From: "Brian Knoll" <brianeknoll@gmail.com>
Date: January 14, 2008 8:51:34 PM CST
To: suggestion@rubyquiz.com
Subject: Attempted solution. :slight_smile:

Hi, James,

Thanks for doing Ruby Quiz -- it was very nice to have something to focus on, rather than inane training book examples (they try hard, they really do).

Thanks for sending in a solution!

I was hoping to get some feedback, as this is one of my first Ruby programs (not copied from a book or website).

I've looked through the code a bit and have a suggestion: see if you can "DRY" the code up in places. DRY stands for Don't Repeat Yourself and it reminds us that if we're typing something over and over again, there's a better way.

A simple example would be the Scite workaround you are using to print content immediately. You have a lot of lines like:

   puts …
   STDOUT.flush

If we move that code into a method:

   def force_puts(*args)
     puts(*args)
     $stdout.flush
   end

we can use that from now on.

In this case though, Ruby has a variable to force flushing the output. If you set it at the top of your script, you can omit all of the calls to flush():

   $| = true

The biggest DRYing opportunity are the sections:

   if card_display == 1
     # …
   end

   # …

   if card_display == 2
     # …
   end

   # …

   if card_display == 3
     # …
   end

If you can condense those you can probably remove about 150 lines of code. That makes it easier to read and maintain, so it's a big win.

Well, I hope that gives you some fresh ideas.

James Edward Gray II

···

On Jan 14, 2008, at 9:26 PM, James Gray wrote:

Begin forwarded message:

3

I personally tend to avoid using those cryptic Perl-like two character
globals. I would write the above as:

$stdout.sync = true

Incidentally, I can't find any reference to $| in the Pickake, second
edition, so I wouldn't have even known about it if you hadn't posted
this. It doesn't seem to be listed anywhere on pages 334-337, nor in
the index.

···

On Jan 15, 8:58 am, James Gray <ja...@grayproductions.net> wrote:

If we move that code into a method:

   def force_puts(*args)
     puts(*args)
     $stdout.flush
   end

we can use that from now on.

In this case though, Ruby has a variable to force flushing the
output. If you set it at the top of your script, you can omit all of
the calls to flush():

   $| = true