Develop Reference

How should I make my getMove() method interact with my GUI in my chess application?

I'm developing an application in Java to help me land my first job as a junior developer. It's a chess game with a GUI that both human players click on from the same machine.
When it's, say, white's turn to move, the application calls white's getMove(Interface interaction) method until a valid MoveAttempt is returned. Here's the getMove(Interface interaction) method of HumanPlayer:
public MoveAttempt getMove(Interface interaction) {
while(!interaction.selectionMade()) {
}
byte pieceFile = interaction.getPenultimateFile();
byte pieceRank = interaction.getPenultimateRank();
byte toFile = interaction.getUltimateFile();
byte toRank = interaction.getUltimateRank();
return new MoveAttempt(pieceFile, pieceRank, toFile, toRank, getIsWhite());
}
penultimateFile, penultimateRank, ultimateFile and ultimateRank are supposed to store the file (column) and rank (row) of the last two chess tiles clicked. This is achieved through this actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) which Interface has because it implements ActionListener
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
LocalizedButton button = (LocalizedButton) event.getSource();
if(penultimateFile == -1) {
penultimateFile = button.getFile();
penultimateRank = button.getRank();
}
else {
ultimateFile = button.getFile();
ultimateRank = button.getRank();
}
}
and by calling this method before each call to getMove(Interface interaction)
public void resetClicks() {
penultimateFile = -1;
penultimateRank = -1;
ultimateFile = -1;
ultimateRank = -1;
}
So the idea is that a move attempt is not made until someone has clicked on two chess squares which is why I have a while loop indefinitely calling selectionMade():
public boolean selectionMade() {
return penultimateFile != -1 && penultimateRank != -1 && ultimateFile != -1 && ultimateRank != -1;
}
This didn't work---pieces didn't move---so in an attempt to see what was happening I put this print statement
System.out.println(interaction.getPenultimateFile() + ", " +
interaction.getPenultimateRank() + ", " +
interaction.getUltimateFile() + ", " +
interaction.getUltimateRank());
into the while loop to see what was going on and now it works---pieces move---except I may have encountered times in which it didn't work but I last I tried I couldn't get it to fail.
I don't want to print anything to the console; what should I do in lieu of having this while loop?
Edit: Putting boolean lol = 0 just above the loop and lol = !lol in the loop doesn't allow the code to work. Neither does calling doNothing().
Edit: Here's the source code: https://github.com/JosephBGriffith/Chess
Right now only the pawns work because I have other bugs that I need to fix. En passant works except the opponent piece doesn't get eliminated.

I would invert the control, so that the UI pushes moves to the game, rather than the game trying to pull moves from the UI.
So your game class might have:
class Game {
boolean move(int fromFile, int fromRank, int toFile, int toRank) { ... }
...
}
If the move wasn't legal (e.g. if it was the other player's turn) then move returns false and the move doesn't occur. That is, the internal state of the Game is unchanged.
And your actionPerformed method becomes:
public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent event) {
LocalizedButton button = (LocalizedButton) event.getSource();
if(penultimateFile == -1) {
penultimateFile = button.getFile();
penultimateRank = button.getRank();
}
else {
game.move(penultimateFile, penultimateRank, button.getFile(), button.getRank());
penultimateFile = -1;
}
}
You could use the return value of move to provide some feedback to the user if the move is illegal.
Something to note about this suggestion is that move is executed on the Swing event thread. In theory this is bad practice, although unless your move method is very slow it won't matter.
Read https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/concurrency/index.html and consider whether you want to use invokeLater.

Java - Loop gets executed, but header doesnt fit condition

This function should check if the explosion hit a box and should be canceled on the first box it hits.
For example bsp.getBomb().getStrength() is currently 2, when a box is hit i=3, but the loop is executed one more time even if the condition isn't met, why is that?
public void detectBomb(BombSpritePair bsp) {
for(int i = 0; i <= bsp.getBomb().getStrength(); i++) {
if(bd.detect(bsp.getBomb().getX(), bsp.getBomb().getY()+i)) {
Sprite sprite = new Sprite(new Texture("gras.png"));
sprite.setPosition(bsp.getBomb().getX()*16, (bsp.getBomb().getY()+i)*16);
// i = bsp.getBomb().getStrength()+1;
sprites.add(sprite);
System.out.println("RIP"+i);
System.out.println(bsp.getBomb().getStrength());
break;
}
}
}

Try adding break to the loop:
public void detectBomb(BombSpritePair bsp) {
for(int i = 0; i <= bsp.getBomb().getStrength(); i++) {
if(bd.detect(bsp.getBomb().getX(), bsp.getBomb().getY() + i)) {
Sprite sprite = new Sprite(new Texture("gras.png"));
sprite.setPosition(bsp.getBomb().getX()*16, (bsp.getBomb().getY()+i)*16);
sprites.add(sprite);
System.out.println("RIP"+i);
System.out.println(bsp.getBomb().getStrength());
break;
}
}
}
You may be seeing duplicate print statements if you are calling the detectBomb method multiple times. Putting a breakpoint or print statement at the beginning of this method will help determine what the problem is.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you are creating a new Texture for the Sprite every time the method get executed - it would be wise to only instantiate the Texture once and share it with all subsequent Sprite instances that require it.

Variables are being reset, but effects are not taking place

I am programming a game, but I have ran into an error.
When the player collided with an object, player.hasCollided is set to true.
if(playerBounds.intersects(wolfBounds)){
player.hasCollided = true;
player.dead();
}
Now, when hasCollided is true, something from the LoseScreen class is printed out onto the screen:
if(player.hasCollided){
lose.start(g);
}
In player.dead(), the player's speed is set to 0.
public void dead(){
playerSpeed = 0;
coinBank += coinsCollected;
}
The problem is that in my InputHandler class I make it so that on the lose screen, when the choice is 1, and enter is pressed, restartGame() is called.
public void restartGame(){
obstacleWolf.getNewPosition();
obstacleHole.getNewPosition();
hasLost = false;
player.hasCollided = false;
player.playerSpeed = 5;
player.nextX = 1000;
player.coinsCollected = 0;
player.xElapsed = 0;
}
if(lose.choice == 1 && enter){
game.hasLost = false;
game.restartGame();
System.out.println(player.hasCollided + " " + player.playerSpeed);
}
Those variables ARE being set to what they are meant to be set to (for example playerSpeed becomes 5 from 0, and hasCollided is becoming false from true) but the effects are not taking place. So, like I showed before, lose.start(g); is only meant to be called when hasCollided is true, but even when it becomes false, it is still printed out on the screen.
Here is how the relevant variables/methods are being used:
public void move() {
x = x - player.playerSpeed;
}
(All moving objects share the same move method)
Parts of the game class:
public void tick(){
input.tick();
if(gameState){
player.tick();
player.move();
collision();
treeline.move();
obstacleHole.move();
obstacleWolf.move();
coin.move();
coin.tick();
}
I am not sure if I can make this question clearer. I can provide more code from different classes if needed.

The question can't be answered in its current form (see 2 comments above).
The reason for that is current code structure.
You need to refactor code, then you will find the problem.
Put all modification of player fields in methods of Player class.
Access fields only through methods. Making fields private is old good practice.
Then the only code you need to share would be this Player class.
In one thread environment, that's all.

Guess the next position of simultaneously running threads

I am making a maze and two threads are moving on it simultaneously.The problem they mustn't share the same position at same time. I don't know how I can do it. Is it possible to know where they will move next and prevent the other thread from moving to that position? Please give me an idea. Thanks.
Here the code :
public int[][] visitedCell=new int[15][15]; // holds how many times visited for each cell
public boolean cntrl=true,repeat=true,end;
public int r=0;
public int cnt;
public boolean find;
public void decision(int posX,int posY){
int distanceToExit;
cnt=0; // holds how many cell is free around the cell which thread is on
r=0;
end=false; // checks robot found exit
find=false; // checks suitable cell found to move in next step
posX=posX/40; // all cells are 40*40 dimension.since it is divided 40 to find poisition
posY=posY/40; // found y position
int[][] neighbours={{posX,posY+1},{posX+1,posY+1},{posX+1,posY},{posX+1,posY-1},{posX,posY-1},{posX-1,posY-1},{posX-1,posY},{posX-1,posY+1}}; // all 8 neighbours of a cell
int[][] freeCellChoises = new int[8][2]; // holds free cells to move
int[][] distanceCell=new int[8][2];
for(int i=0;i<8;i++){ // checks which neighbour cells are free
if((neighbours[i][0] >0 && neighbours[i][0] <14) && (neighbours[i][1] >0 && neighbours[i][1] < 14) || (neighbours[i][0]==1 && neighbours[i][1]==14) || (neighbours[i][0]==14 && neighbours[i][1]==1) ) // [1,14] = enter position and [14,1]= exit position
{
if(Draw.paintArray[neighbours[i][0]][neighbours[i][1]]==0){// cell is free.it is eligible
freeCellChoises[cnt][0]=neighbours[i][0]; // load eligible cells this array
freeCellChoises[cnt][1]=neighbours[i][1];
distanceToExit=(int) Math.sqrt((Math.pow(neighbours[i][0]-560, 2)+Math.pow(neighbours[i][1]-40,2)));
distanceCell[cnt][0]=cnt;
distanceCell[cnt][1]=distanceToExit;
cnt++;}
}
} // eligible cells are ready anymore
if(Frame.radButSel==1){ // random movement
int no=rndm.nextInt(cnt); // choose one of the eligible cell randomly
x=freeCellChoises[no][0] * 40;
y=freeCellChoises[no][1] * 40;
}
if(Frame.radButSel==2){ // closed way movement ( find the most clodes cell to the exit ) .Exit is [14,1].So x must be max, y must be min to a cell has priority
int maxX=freeCellChoises[0][0];
int minY=freeCellChoises[0][1];
int selection1=0,selection2=0;
for(int i=0;i<cnt;i++){ // x i byk y si kck sec
if(freeCellChoises[i][0]> maxX){
maxX=freeCellChoises[i][0];
selection1=i;}
if(freeCellChoises[i][1]<minY){
minY=freeCellChoises[i][1];
selection2=i;
}
}
if(cnt!=0) // checks there is a priority cell
r=rndm.nextInt(2)+1; // selects one of the priority cell
if(r==1 && visitedCell[freeCellChoises[selection1][0]][freeCellChoises[selection1][1]] <2){ //selection1.same cell musnt be visited more than 2 times
x=freeCellChoises[selection1][0] * 40;
y=freeCellChoises[selection1][1] * 40;}
else if(r==2 && visitedCell[freeCellChoises[selection2][0]][freeCellChoises[selection2][1]] <2){//selection2
x=freeCellChoises[selection2][0] * 40;
y=freeCellChoises[selection2][1] * 40;}
else{ // applies when there is not any priority cell
System.out.println("oncelik yok");
int repeat =0;
while(repeat<cnt){
r=rndm.nextInt(cnt); // choose one of the eligible cell
x=freeCellChoises[r][0] * 40;
y=freeCellChoises[r][1] * 40;
if(visitedCell[freeCellChoises[r][0]][freeCellChoises[r][1]] <2){
repeat=10;
}
else
repeat++;
}System.out.println("x="+x+"y="+y);
}
}
if(Frame.radButSel==3){
}
if(x==560 && y==40){ // checks decided cell is exit point
Action.pool.shutdownNow();// thread finished
end=true;
Main.butAct++; // when butAct=2 , "RESULT" button will be active
timer.stopTime();} // stops time for the thread
distance=(int) Math.sqrt(Math.pow(x-560,2) + Math.pow(y-40, 2));// calculates distance between thread - exit
}
public Action() throws InterruptedException{
pool=Executors.newFixedThreadPool(2); // two thread in the pool
robot1=new Robot(40,560); // starts enter position
robot2=new Robot(40,560); // starts enter position
pool.submit(robot1); // loads robot1 to pool
pool.submit(robot2);// loadss robot2 to pool
}
public void run() {
while(true){ // run threads always
try {
Frame.worker.pauseIfNeeded();} // checks whether pause button is pressed
catch (InterruptedException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Robot.class.getName()).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);}
if(end==false){// not reach exit
try{
System.out.println(Thread.currentThread().getName());// displays current thread name
System.out.println("pozisyon x="+x+"y="+y);
decision(x,y); // thread makes decision to move
visitedCell[x/40][y/40]+=1; // increade number of visitide cell count for that cell in the array
visCell++; //increase visited cell count for the thread
Thread.sleep(300);} // thread sleeps for a while to observe movement changing
catch(Exception ex){
}
}
else{// found exit
Thread.currentThread().interrupt(); // Thread killed
if(Main.butAct==2)// after a thread found exit, checks if result button can be active anymore
Frame.button4.setEnabled(true); // activates result button
}
}//end while
}

Or you could do it something like this. The manager class is aware of the position of both threads, and the moveTo method checks that they don't coincide at the same location.
class MazeManager {
int x1, x2, y1, y2;
public synchronized boolean moveTo(int threadId, int x, int y) {
..
}
}

The most simple solution would be to "divide" the work in such a way that the two work regions (solutions/paths to be tried out) are mutually exclusive. A workaround would be to have a concurrent set of positions which would be checked by each thread before making a move.

You will have to use the concept of so called mutual exclusion. In the Java programming language, you will have to use the synchronized keyword to do the job for you. A simple example maybe seen at [1]:
public class SynchronizedCounter {
private int i = 0;
public synchronized void increment() {
i++;
}
public synchronized void decrement() {
i--;
}
public synchronized int value() {
return i;
}
}
Here you see a code that makes sure that only one thread is able to modify the value of the shared variable i. Note that the code uses this as the so-called "lock object". You may rewrite the code in the following way:
public class SynchronizedCounter {
private int i = 0;
public void increment() {
synchronized(this) {
i++;
}
}
public void decrement() {
synchronized(this) {
i--;
}
}
public int value() {
synchronized(this) {
return i;
}
}
}
Or you may want to create your own lock object and use it:
public class SynchronizedCounter {
private int i = 0;
private Object lock = new Object();
public void increment() {
synchronized(lock) {
i++;
}
}
public void decrement() {
synchronized(lock) {
i--;
}
}
public int value() {
synchronized(lock) {
return i;
}
}
}
Now any number of threads may call the methods of this object randomly, but only one thread at one time will be able to pass the lock and do the actual modification.
[1] http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/concurrency/syncmeth.html

Have the class that manages the maze force the threads to synchronize through itself, and make requests to change their position. The maze manager can then allow or deny requests to move based on the position of other threads.

Like Sanjay says, prevention is better than cure. You can partition the cells traversed by the two robots such that they never share the same cell.
If that is not possible, the cure is to use locks for each of the cells. Robots obtain the corresponding lock before moving into the cell and release the lock when done. This will cause a robot to wait if it is trying to enter the same cell as another robot. This is a more decentralized approach than having the maze manager control the moves and will result in less contention.

Using a boolean variable in while statement

A newbie question. I have the following piece of Java code:
import acm.program.*;
import java.awt.Color;
import acm.graphics.*;
public class ufo extends GraphicsProgram{
private GRect ufo_ship;
boolean hasNotLost;
public void run (){
setup(); //places ufo_ship to initial position
hasNotLost = ufo_ship.getY() < 200; //checks if ufo_ship is
//above the bottom edge of window
while(hasNotLost){
move_ufo(); //moves ufo_ship
}
showMessage(); //shows that program ended
}
//remaining methods are here
}
When I run this code, the rectangle ufoship does not stop when it reaches the bottom of the window. I assume, that it's because it checks position of the ufoship only once, and not every time the rectangle moves.
Is there any way to correct it without writing simply while(ufo_ship.getY() < 200)?

hasNotLost = ufo_ship.getY() < 200; <- Does not assign expression to the variable, but the value to which that expression is being computed, so it of course is computed only once. You can extract it to other method
boolean hasNotLost(GRect ufo_ship){ return ufo_ship.getY() < 200; }
while(hasNotLost(ufo_ship))
{
...
}
ufo could have own class and that method so you would just call while(ufoShip.hasNotLost())

There is a number of ways you could do this, one of which you have highlighted in your question:
while(ufo_ship.getY() < 200)
You could also do:
while(hasNotLost) { move_ufo(); hasNotLost = ufo_ship.getY() < 200; }
Or could pass hasNotLost by reference into move_ufo() and do the check at the end of move_ufo(), or you could even integrate the check into move_ufo, and return false from it, so you could simply say:
while(move_ufo()) {}

while(hasNotLost){
move_ufo(); //moves ufo_ship
hasNotLost = ufo_ship.getY() < 200; //checks if ufo_ship is
//above the bottom edge of window
}

No, in your example code, you evaluate hasNotLost once and use that (now static) value in the while statement. It will always be true (as evaluate initially)
The proper solution is indeed
while(ufo_ship.getY() < 200) {
move_ufi();
}
or extract a method an do something like
while(ufoStillOnScreen(ufo)) {
move_ufi();
}
and evaluate the position in that extracted method.