Write-up Guidelines

• Technical writing is a skill that takes practice.
• Most people that use your code will never see your code, thus your documentation is the best way to learn the programs functionality, bugs, etc.
• Writing a report helps you think deeper into a problem.

Name,Date,Course/Section,Instructor,Assignment Number, Email Address
Example:

        Billy Bob (bob@students.wisc.edu)
        CompSci 302 - Section xx Instructor: Colby O'Donnell
        February 29, 2040
        Program 13: Grader program.
        

State, in your own words, what the program does. (One paragraph maximum)
Example:

          This program will compute the grades and class standing for
        students in Underwater Basket Weaving 101. 
        

Describe the input / output functionality of the program.
Example:

        Input to the program will come from a data file which contains 
        the names, ID numbers, and grades of each student. The file
        will also contain information on the course title, number of
        assignments, and the maximum score for each assignment.
        Format of the input file:
           CLASS_NAME   NUM_ASSIGN   MAX_ASSGN_1   MAX_ASSIGN_2 ...
           STUDENT_NAME   STUDENT_ID  SCORE_1   SCORE_2 ...
        Sample Input File:
          cs302 5 10 10 10 20 20
          sally 123321 9 8 10 16 19
          joe 393982 5 10 6 19 16
          ...
       
        The program will output the final grade, sorted by class
        standing, of each student.
        Sample output:
        Name        Grade        Class Standing
        ---------------------------------------
        Fred          A             [1/32]
        Barney        A             [2/32]
        Wilma         A-            [3/32]
         ...
        Dino          F             [32/32]
        

Describe any important variables here. What important means is up to you, but definitely any globals or often used variables should be included. Also, if you have created any data structures, e.g. classes or structs, make sure you describe the interfaces here.
Example:

        Global Variables:
          NUM_STUDENTS: The number of students in the class
          NUM_ASSIGN  : The number of assignments in the class
        Data Structures
          Class Student: Contains student information
            Data members:
               Name     : The students name
               ID       : The students ID number
               Grades[] : An array of the student's grades
            Member Functions:
               getGrade(): Returns the student's final grade
               print()   : Print the student information
      

Briefly describe your algorithm here. Remember that an algorithm is not C++ code, but more of an abstraction of the sequence of steps the program uses to solve the problem. It is OK to use pseudo-code, a combination of code and text, when you feel it necessary. This will usually be the longest part of your report.
Example: (some function algorithms left out to save space)

        Main
          Input  : Nothing
          Output : Nothing
          Returns: int (Error code to operating system)
          Method :
            1) Print a greeting message
            2) Read in the data file. (Call function readData()
            3) Calculate the grade of each student
            4) Print the results. (Call function printResults()
        printResults()
          Input  : List of student names and grades
          Output : Prints the final grade, sorted by class
                     standing, of each student.
          Returns: Nothing
          Method :
            1) Sort the list by class standing
            2) For each student:
                a) Print out student information
        

Describe how you tested your program and what results you got. Programs should be tested one more than the sample data we provide, expecially since they will be graded as such. (A couple of sentences is usually enough here.)
Example:

          I tested my program with a variety of inputs. My sample
        input files can be found at U:\public\samples\. 
        

Describe the circumstances under which your program doesn't work correctly. This may include things out of your control, or errors that you didn't know how to fix. In the real world, this is probably the most important part of a programs documentation.
Example:

        * Crashes when the input file isn't in the correct format
        * If a student scores a seven on every assignment, gold tokens 
          come shooting out of the disk drive.
        

How could you improve this program? Give some suggestions.
Example:

        * Would be nice to add the instructor name to output
        * Calculate the mean and standard deviation
        * Distribute grades via. Email
        

Tell me what you thought of the assignment. Was it too easy? Too hard? Any suggestions on making it better?

Answer any questions posed in the assignment specification (the assignment web page) here.