WordLink is an English vocabulary game for two players. Players are required to present English words in turns, and the first character of the word must be the same as the last character of the previous word. For example, while player A and player B are playing the game, if A presents the word "grass", then B has to give a word starting with 's' which is the last character of grass. If B presents sunny, then A needs to supply a word starting with y. A word cannot be used twice in one game. The game continues till one of the players loses. There are four scenarios in which a player loses the game. These are
(1) the player cannot find a word to continue the game.
(2) the player has presented a word which starts with a different character.
(3) the player has supplied a repeated word.
(4) the spelling of the word is incorrect
In any case, if one player is lost, then the other player wins the game. A number of examples of the game are listed as below
Example 1
(Player A) "grass" - (Player B) sunny (A) yellow (B) world (A) dog (B) grass
The game is ended and Player A wins. This is because "grass" is used twice.
Example 2
(Player A) "grass" - (Player B) sunny (A) yellow (B) world (A) dog (B) out
The game is ended and Player A wins. This is because player B is expected to present a word starting with 'g', therefore "out" is not a proper choice.
Example 3
(Player A) "grass" - (Player B) sunny (A) yellow (B) world (A) doog
The game is ended and Player B wins. This is because "doog" is incorrectly spelt.
In this assignment, you are required to build a program that plays WordLink with a kindergarten pupil. The pupil is player A and your program acts as player B.
A text file ( dictionary.txt ) containing a set of English words will be provided. You can assume that dictionary.txt contains all English words that a kindergarten pupil may know. Words to be used in playing the game must be selected from the file.
Each game should start by letting player A enter a word. Your program then needs to validate the word (ie. if the word is included in dictionary.txt ). If the word is invalid, then the game is terminated and your program (player B) wins; otherwise your program needs to search the dictionary to find and enter a proper word. Your program will then let player A to type a word to continue the game. This can go back and forth a number of times till either your program or player A wins.
Your program must satisfy the following functional and non-functional requirements.
Menu Driven
The program should be menu driven. It displays the menu displayed as Figure 1 at the start and waits for the player to choose a function.
WordLink
A. set the difficulty level
B. display the dictionary
C. insert a word to the dictionary
D. play the game
E. exit
Select a function from the menu:
If A is selected, it allows the player to set a difficulty level. Details are described in 3.2.
If B is selected, it displays all words in the dictionary as described in 3.3.
If C is selected, it inserts a new word into the dictionary as described in 3.4.
If D is selected, it starts playing the game. Refer to 3.5 for details.
If E is selected, it saves all changes to dictionary.txt , and terminates the program execution.
Set the difficulty level
Your program should provide two difficulty levels for the game - level 1 and level 2. dictionary.txt contains two sets of words - level 1 and level 2 words. When playing at level 2, all words in dictionary.txt will be used, while level 1 games use only level 1 words. Consequently, level 2 games are more difficult than level 1. At the start of your program execution, the difficulty level is 1 by default.
If the player chooses to set the difficulty level, your program should prompt the player and wait for an integer (1 or 2) input. The difficulty level is then set up.
A sample of dictionary.txt is displayed in figure 2.
Figure 2 sample of dictionary.txt: see image.
Display the dictionary
If this function is selected, your program displays on the monitor all words in the dictionary (including those being added). It displays words level by level with lower level at the front. Within each level, words are displayed alphabetically in an ascending order. They should be displayed 7 words in a line and 5 lines for a screen. The player can press any key to display the next screen.
Insert a word to the dictionary
The player can insert a new word into the dictionary. To insert a new word, the player needs to provide the word and the difficulty level. Your program must check to ensure the absence of the word before adding. If the word is existing, then insertion cannot be performed and the player should be informed.
Play the game
A game starts by your program prompting the player to enter a word. After a word is entered, your program checks if the word exists in the dictionary. If it isn't, then the player loses and the game is over. If it is, then your program searches the dictionary and selects the first proper word to continue the game. For instance, if " sad ", sat , saw , say , sea , see , she , shy , sun are all available for selection, your program chooses the first word which is sad .
The dictionary
After your program is started, it should read from dictionary.txt to create the dictionary. The dictionary in your program must be an array of linked lists shown in Figure 3. Each node represents a word and its level. Words must be sorted alphabetically in an ascending order on the linked list. If a new word is added, then the word with its level must be inserted to the linked list at a proper position.
Figure 3 Structure of the dictionary: see image.
Below are code segments that must be included in your program.
public class DictionaryNode {
//object of the class represents a single word
protected String word; // word to be stored
private int level; // level of the word
private DictionaryNode next;
public DictionaryNode(String _word, int _level) {
//add your implementation for the constructor
}
//add any other attributes or methods if needed
}
public class ListOfNodes {
//object of the class represents a linked list of words starting
//with a specific character.
private DictionaryNode head = null; //head of the linked list
//add any other attributes or methods if needed
}
public class Dictionary {
//object of the class represents the whole dictionary
private ListOfNodes[] data;
//add any other attributes or methods if needed
}
The following is a suggested breakdown for completing this assignment:
Task 1 Creating the Menu
Create the menu display, collect user's input and write a method stub for each menu option. Ensure that the correct function is called.
Task 2 File Handling
In Task 2, you need to consider all issues related to reading the text file ( dictionary.txt ) to obtain words and their levels. You can simply display contents read from the text file to ensure file reading is correctly conducted.
Task 3 Defining Classes
In this task, implement major classes for the assignment. This includes the necessary menu and interactions with the player for choosing options etc.
Task 4 Linked Lists
Implement classes required for linked lists and dictionary. Implement methods (such as insertInOrder, search etc) which are operations associated with the list and any other methods. Thoroughly test your linked list before integrating it into your program.
A sample of the program execution is as follows.
% java WordLink
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: A
Set the difficulty level
The current difficulty level is 1. Type the new level: 2
The difficulty level has now been set as 2.
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: B
Display the dictionary
Level 1
and ant are baby bag bye car
cry dad do dog ear eat eye
fat fun get go got had hand
has have he her him his ice
icy it jam jar jaw key kick
press a key to continue ...
lap leg me mug mum my new
not oil old one out owl pan
pat paw pie put quack rat red
run sat say sea see she sun
tea toe too toy two use van
press a key to continue ...
wag was we web who why win
xmas yes you zoo
press a key to continue ...
Level 2
arm box cup day did egg foot
fur gas hen hop lid ill low
map may mob nod oak our pea
pink quick ran rub sad saw shy
top try uncle way won yum zero
press a key to continue ...
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: C
Insert a word to the dictionary
Enter the word: wear
Difficulty level: 1
“wear” is inserted.
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: C
Insert a word to the dictionary
Enter the word: quack
Difficulty level: 2
“quack” exists in the dictionary. Insertion aborted.
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: B
Display the dictionary
Level 1
and ant are baby bag bye car
cry dad do dog ear eat eye
fat fun get go got had hand
has have he her him his ice
icy it jam jar jaw key kick
press a key to continue ...
lap leg me mug mum my new
not oil old one out owl pan
pat paw pie put quack rat red
run sat say sea see she sun
tea toe too toy two use van
press a key to continue ...
wag was we wear web who why
win xmas yes you zoo
press a key to continue ...
Level 2
arm box cup day did egg foot
fur gas hen hop lid ill low
map may mob nod oak our pea
pink quick ran rub sad saw shy
top try uncle way won yum zero
press a key to continue ...
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: D
play the game (Level 2)
Enter a word: tea
tea – and - day
tea – and – day – yes - sun
tea – and – day – yes – sun – new - what
“what” doesn’t exist in the dictionary. You didn’t win.
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: D
play the game (Level 2)
Enter a word: may
may – yes - say
may – yes – say – you - uncle
may – yes – say – you – uncle – ear - red
may – yes – say – you – uncle – ear – red – dad - day
may – yes – say – you – uncle – ear – red – dad – day – yum - my
Well done! You win.
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game
E exit
Select a function from the menu: E
Updating dictionary.txt ... Bye
A sample of the program execution containing the additional two-player task is as follows.
% java WordLink
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game (1 player)
E exit
F play the game (2 players)
Select a function from the menu: f
Play the game (2 Players - Level 1)
P1: Enter a word: has
P2: - has - see
P1: - has - see - ear
P2: - has - see - ear - run
P1: - has - see - ear - run - now
"now" isn't in the level 1 dictionary!
--Player two wins!--
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game (1 player)
E exit
F play the game (2 players)
Select a function from the menu: F
Play the game (2 Players - Level 1)
P1: Enter a word: wag
P2: - wag - go
P1: - wag - go - oil
P2: - wag - go - oil - line
"line" isn't in the level 1 dictionary!
--Player one wins!--
WordLink
A set the difficulty level
B display the dictionary
C insert a word to the dictionary
D play the game (1 player)
E exit
F play the game (2 players)
Select a function from the menu: e
Updating dictionary.txt ... Bye