This repository contains tasks for you to undertake to secure and prepare you for a place on the Tech Returners course. We will be checking over your solutions, so please ensure you push to GitHub regularly (little and often is key).
You may find these exercises challenging but they give you the opportunity to showcase your growth mindset and commitment to learning, programming, and trying your best. You can always come to us if you are having any trouble.
We cover Java on the Your Return to Tech course, so it's really important your problem solving skills are fresh.
If you need reminding of any key Java concepts to solve these tasks we recommend the 'Codecademy: Learn Java' (free) course: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-java
NOTE: You are not required to purchase any PRO content from Codecademy.
We also recommend this visual guide if you are unfamiliar with GitHub: https://agripongit.vincenttunru.com/
Remember to break down problems to help you solve them and that Google is your friend!
To complete these exercises you will need to have Java and Maven installed on your computer.
Follow this link to download and install the Java SE Development Kit for your laptop:
https://www.oracle.com/uk/java/technologies/javase/javase-jdk8-downloads.html
(If you already have Java installed, please make sure you are running version 8)
You'll also need Maven installed for managing dependencies.
Maven is used to manage the dependencies (similar to NPM in the Javascript world or PIP in a Python world).
Maven can be downloaded and installed by following the link here:
https://maven.apache.org/index.html
Download: https://maven.apache.org/download.cgi Install: https://maven.apache.org/install.html
There are also a number of videos online guiding you through installation.
Once you've got Java and Maven installed you can make a start!
Firstly you will need to fork this GitHub repository to your own GitHub profile and then clone your forked repository down to your laptop.
NOTE: You do NOT have to submit Pull Requests to us.
Once you have cloned your repository you can proceed to install the dependencies by navigating into the directory (you have cloned) and running:
mvn clean install
If you look inside the tasks directory you will find a file of functions to implement.
To understand how these functions work, take a look in the corresponding test file where the desired functionality is described.
To run the tests, run
mvn test
Work through each test 1 by 1 until you have them all passing. Initially, you'll have a lot of failing tests and a lot of output on the console. To focus on a single test, you can enter into the terminal mvn test -Dtest= followed by the class name:
mvn test -Dtest=Exercise001
You can see the first task in exercise001.java