LAB | JS Clue (mixing objects and arrays)

Learning Goals

This exercise allows you to practice and apply the concepts and techniques taught in class.

Upon completion of this exercise, you will be able to:

Run predefined tests in Jasmine to verify that the program meets the technical requirements.
Identify expected code behavior by reading and understanding test results and errors.
Create objects using the object literal syntax
Declare and invoke functions
Use the return keyword to return a value from a function.
Pass arrays to functions as arguments.
Access objects stored in arrays,
Access object properties using the dot notation and bracket notation
Iterate over arrays using the for and forEach loops.

Introduction

Do you remember the classic detective board game Clue? It was a very popular game in the 90s.

The plot starts with the death of Mr. Boddy, the very wealthy owner of Tudor Manor. He was killed under highly suspicious circumstances, and the player's mission is to uncover which suspect murdered him, what weapon was used, and in which room of the mansion the crime took place.

When playing Clue, these three details are represented by a suspect card, a weapon card and a room card that are kept hidden in an envelope for the duration of the game. By progressively revealing the remaining cards, the players can infer which are the three cards that are hidden. When a player is confident that they know the solution to the mystery, they will try to reveal it. If a player guesses correctly, they win the game.

Requirements

Fork this repo
Clone this repo

Submission

Upon completion, run the following commands:

git add .
git commit -m "Solved lab"
git push origin master

Create a Pull Request so that your TAs can check your work.

Test Your Code

This LAB is equipped with unit tests to provide automated feedback on your lab progress. If you want to check the tests, they are in the tests/clue.spec.js file.

To run the tests and your JavaScript code, open the SpecRunner.html file using the Live Server VSCode extension.

To see the outputs of the console.log in your JavaScript code, open the Console in the Developer Tools.

Instructions

You will work in the src/clue.js file, already loaded in the SpecRunner.html file.

To run the tests and your JavaScript code, open the SpecRunner.html file using the Live Server VSCode extension.

Iteration 1: Create the cards

Clue has three different card types: suspects, rooms, and weapons.

Let's create an array for every card type. These arrays should be named suspectsArray, weaponsArray, roomsArray. Each array will contain objects, where each object represents one card.

All of the information you need about suspects, rooms, and weapons can be found on the DATA.md file.

Suggestion: Copy this data into the clue.js file and model it into objects nested inside your cards' arrays. This is a great chance for you to experiment with IDE shortcuts, multiple-line selection, find and replace, and other great features that VS Code provides.

Suspects

All of six possible suspects in Clue have a first name, last name, occupation, age, description, image and color.

To complete this iteration, you should have an array that looks something like the following:

const suspectsArray = [
  {
    firstName: 'Jacob',
    lastName: 'Green',
    occupation: 'Entrepreneur'
    // ...
  }
  // ...
];

Weapons

There are a total of nine weapons. Each of them has a different name and weight.

Rooms

The game board represents the blueprints of the mansion and features fifteen different rooms. Each room will only have a name.

Iteration 2: Create the mystery

At the beginning of the game, players shuffle each of the card stacks to create a combination of suspect, weapon and room. This will be the mystery to solve.

Random selector

Declare a function named selectRandom to select one element from a card stack randomly. The function should expect an array as an argument and should return a random element from the array.

Create the mystery

Declare a function named pickMystery that takes no arguments and returns an object with three properties: suspect, weapon and room, each holding as a value a card of that specific type. You can get a random card of each type by calling selectRandom on each card stack.

Iteration 3: Reveal the mystery

At last, we are ready to reveal the mystery.

Declare a function named revealMystery that receives an envelope object (with the shape of the object returned by pickMystery) as the single argument and returns a revealing message in the following format:

<FIRST NAME> <LAST NAME> killed Mr. Boddy using the <WEAPON> in the <ROOM>!

Extra Resources

Happy coding! ❤️

FAQs

I am stuck in the exercise and don't know how to solve the problem or where to start.

If you are stuck in your code and don't know how to solve the problem or where to start, you should take a step back and try to form a clear question about the specific issue you are facing. This will help you narrow down the problem and come up with potential solutions.

For example, is it a concept that you don't understand, or are you receiving an error message that you don't know how to fix? It is usually helpful to try to state the problem as clearly as possible, including any error messages you are receiving. This can help you communicate the issue to others and potentially get help from classmates or online resources.

Once you have a clear understanding of the problem, you will be able to start working toward the solution.

How do I loop over an array?

Loops allow you to repeat a block of code a certain number of times. There are several ways to loop over an array in JavaScript:

For loop

The for loop is the most traditional way to loop through an array in JavaScript. It consists of three parts: the initialization, the condition, and the increment/decrement:

const animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird'];

// initialize counter variable (let i = 0)
// set condition (i < animals.length)
// increment counter (i++)
for (let i = 0; i < animals.length; i++) {
  console.log(animals[i]);
}

The initialization is where you declare a counter variable and set its initial value. The condition is a boolean expression that is evaluated before each iteration of the loop. If the condition is true, the loop will continue. Once the condition turns false, the loop will terminate. The increment/decrement is where you update the counter variable and it happens at the end of each iteration. The block of code inside the loop is repeated during each iteration.

While loop

The while loop is another way to loop through an array in JavaScript. It consists of a condition and a block of code that is executed as long as the condition is true.

Like the for loop, the while loop requires a counter variable to keep track of the current position in the array. The counter variable must be initialized before the loop and incremented or decremented at the end of each iteration.

const animals = ['cat', 'dog', 'bird'];

// initialize a counter variable (i)
let i = 0;

// set condition (i < animals.length)
while (i < animals.length) {
  console.log(animals[i]);
  
  // increment counter (i++)
  i++;
}

How do I loop over an array using the forEach() method?

The forEach() method executes a provided function once for each array element. It does not return a new array but rather executes the function on each element in the array.

The syntax of the forEach() method is as follows:

array.forEach( function(element) {
  // code to be executed for each element
});

Here is an example that uses the forEach() method to log each element and its index in an array to the console:

const fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry'];

fruits.forEach( function(element, index) {
  console.log(`${index}: ${element}`);
});

You can also use an arrow function as the callback function for forEach():

fruits.forEach((element, index) => {
  console.log(`${index}: ${element}`);
});

What could cause array.length to return undefined?

If you try to access the .length property on an array (e.g., array.length) but get undefined, it means that the variable you are accessing is not actually an array.

How do I fix this?

Check that the variable you are trying to access is actually an array.

How do you generate a random number in JavaScript?

To generate a random number using the Math.random() method.

The Math.random() method returns a random floating-point (decimal) number in the range between 0 and 0.9999999999999999. Example:

const randomNumber = Math.random();
console.log(randomNumber);

To generate a random integer within a specific range, use the following formula:

const min = 1;
const max = 10;
const randomInteger = Math.floor(Math.random() * (max-min + 1)) + min;
console.log(randomInteger);

This will generate a random number that is an integer between 1 and 10 (inclusive).

For more information, check: MDN: Math.random()

All of the Jasmine tests are failing and in red. Why did this happen?

One possible reason why all of the Jasmine tests are failing is that there is a syntax error in the code being tested. If the code contains a syntax error, it will not be loaded properly and none of the tests will be able to run. This will cause all of the tests to fail.

To troubleshoot this issue, you will need to examine the code being tested for syntax errors. Look for missing brackets, semicolons, or other syntax issues that could be causing the problem. If you find a syntax error, correct it and try running the tests again.

Another possibility is that there is an issue with the tests. It is possible that you may have modified the test file and caused an issue. If you have made changes to the test file, try copying and pasting the original test file and running the tests again to see if this resolves the issue.

I am unable to push changes to the repository. What should I do?

There are a couple of possible reasons why you may be unable to push changes to a Git repository:

You have not committed your changes: Before you can push your changes to the repository, you need to commit them using the git commit command. Make sure you have committed your changes and try pushing again. To do this, run the following terminal commands from the project folder:

git add .
git commit -m "Your commit message"
git push

You do not have permission to push to the repository: If you have cloned the repository directly from the main Ironhack repository without making a Fork first, you do not have write access to the repository. To check which remote repository you have cloned, run the following terminal command from the project folder:

git remote -v

If the link shown is the same as the main Ironhack repository, you will need to fork the repository to your GitHub account first and then clone your fork to your local machine to be able to push the changes.

Note: You should make a copy of your local code to avoid losing it in the process.

renangandra/lab-javascript-clue