Projects

On the third day, you will have some time to work on a larger project and receive assistance as you need. Choose from the list of projects below. Make sure you like the project you choose (as you’ll spend a lot of time working on it!)

You also have the option to work with a partner on any of these projects. If you choose to go this route, make sure to read about Pair Programming and take turns typing every 15 to 30 minutes. The partner who is not typing should be helping with the design and watching for errors.

  1. Dr. NIM -- Create the computer player that always wins for a classic game, Nim.
    Difficulty level: Easy/Medium. Concepts: looping.
  2. Stack Calculator -- Create a Reverse Polish Notation calculator. This could even turn into your own programming language!
    Difficulty level: Medium. Concepts: looping, lists, optionally: functions, dictionaries.
  3. Evil Hangman -- Design a computer program which cheats at hangman. You play against the computer, but the computer actively dodges guesses.
    Difficulty level: Hard. Concepts: looping, sets or lists, dictionaries, functions
  4. Maze Solver -- Solve a text-based maze using recursion. This is definately the hardest project on this page, so choose wisely.
    Difficulty level: Hard. Concepts: lists or sets, functions, recursion
  5. Your Own Idea?