As a way of practicing my C++ coding I decided to do a simple project of creating a text based noughts and crosses game. By doing this, I can learn to utilise arrays and classes as well as practice my syntax as I have encountered many errors due to syntax.
#include < iostream>
using namespace std;
// initialise variables
int i = 0;
int j = 0;
// draw the naughts and crosses board
void drawBoard(char board[3][3]) {
for (i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
cout << "\n";
for (j = 0; j < 3; j++) {
cout << board[i][j] << " | ";
}
cout << "\n---------\n";
}
cout << "\n\n\n";
}
// set the boolean of set win to true if there are 3 characters that are the same next to each other in a row
bool checkwin(char board[3][3], char player) {
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
if (board[i][0] == player && board[i][1] == player && board[i][2] == player)
return true;
if (board[0][i] == player && board[1][i] == player && board[2][i] == player)
return true;
}
if (board[0][0] == player && board[1][1] == player && board[2][2] == player)
return true;
if (board[0][2] == player && board[1][1] == player && board[2][0] == player)
return true;
return false;
}
int main() {
// initialisations
char board[3][3] = { {' ', ' ', ' '}, {' ', ' ', ' '}, {' ', ' ', ' '} }; // the array that the X & O's are stored in
char player = 'X'; // defaults to X starts
int row, col; // the row and column the user inputs
int turn; // used to check if there are any more spaces in the array left
cout << "Welcome to Tic Tac Toe!\n";
for (turn = 0; turn < 9; turn++) {
drawBoard(board); // calls drawBoard & prints it
while (true) {
cout << "Player " << player << " enter row (0-2) and column (0-2) [e.g. 0 2]: ";
cin >> row >> col;
if (row > 2 || row < 0 || col > 2 || col < 0 || board[row][col] != ' ') {
cout << "Invalid move. Try again.\n";
} else {
break; // a valid move causes the while loop to break and the program continues
}
}
board[row][col] = player;
// checks if the player has won using checkwin and prints it
if (checkwin(board, player)) {
drawBoard(board);
cout << "Player " << player << " wins!\n";
break;
}
player = (player == 'X') ? 'O' : 'X'; // alternates the player value. T: returns value based on the condition e.g. (is it this thing?) yes : no
}
// accounts for a tie when all 9 spaces in the array are filled
if (turn == 9 && !checkwin(board, 'X') && !checkwin(board, 'O')) {
cout << "It's a tie!\n";
}
return 0;
}
For this short project I used a tutorial (Geeks For Geeks n.d.).
The first part of the code has two classes. Classes are important because it helps the code to be more organised and efficient as the class is only used when called, it is also useful for if you wanted to create subclasses from that class to use its functions or variables. The first class uses two for loops to print the layout of the board while using the 3D array that stores the board entries to check what should be printed where. The second class checks the 3D Array to see if you have got 3 identical characters in the right places.
The main loop of the game uses a for loop to make sure that the number of turns does not exceed the number of spaces in the array. as well as handling user inputs and calling the classes coded.
Debugging and commenting
After following their code, I came across many compiler errors. However, before I went into debugging the code, I went about properly understanding what I had written (Nystrom 2009). I did this through going through and commenting instructions on what is going on in the code. Effective commenting can be used to give high level explanations while keeping low-level knowledge to the code itself. (Hunt & Thomas, 1999)
By going through the code and commenting it I was able to find the syntax error in my code that was preventing it from running. Another reason for me doing this is that it makes the code easier for other coders to use and read as it shows them exactly what all the code does.
Reflection
By coding this simple game I was able to help myself learn C++ in an applied setting. This helped me a lot with learning more of the operators (such as || and ?:)that can be used in C++ which I will now be able to properly utilise in future projects. This was also useful in giving experience in multi-dimensional arrays That can be used in future to store data in tables. For example, I could use a multi-dimensional array to store the names and dialogues of NPCs in a game and then access that when interacting with them. One thing I would Like to do with this code in future would be to add code that would mean the players could choose columns/rows 1, 2 or 3 rather than 0, 1 or 2 as I think that would produce better user experience. To achieve this I would most likely take the row and col variables -that would be 1, 2 or 3- and subtract 1 form them before accessing that part of the array.
Bibliography
Geeks For Geeks. n.d. ‘Tic-Tac-Toe in C++’. Retrieved (http://geeksforgeeks.org/tic-tac-toe-game-in-cpp/).
Hunt, A., & Thomas, D. (1999). The Pragmatic Programmer From Journeyman to Master. Addison-Wesley.
Nystrom, Robert. 2009. ‘Game Programming Patterns’. Game Programming Patterns. Retrieved (https://www.gameprogrammingpatterns.com/).