VanHackathon

Axiom Zen - Mastermind API

A Rest API to play Mastermind

Introduction

In this challenge we were asked to develop a server side API to play Mastermind (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_(board_game)) against.

I decided to design and develop a robust, well tested and scalable solution, and in order to achieve those features with productivity, I have chosen to use Java and Spring-Boot.

The API

The API is a simple REST API, with two resources: Game and Guess. With the first resource it is possible to post a new Game, informing user and number of players, and to post a new User into a Game, when it is a multiplayer game. With the Guess resource it is possible to post a new Guess. All operations return a Game Status object, with the game key, which identifies the game.

Resources

Game

To create a new game:

POST http://{server}/game

json: {
"user": "Lucas",
"players": "1"
}

To join a existing multi player game:

POST http://{server}/game/{gameKey}/user/{username}

Guess

To post a guess:

POST http://{server}/guess
json: {
"gameKey": "8b99b93c-09c4-4715-8813-f143ed43f92e",
"code": "CYOOOOOB",
"user": "Lucas"
}

Game Status

Example of a Game Status object:

{
"colors": [
"R",
"B",
"G",
"Y",
"O",
"P",
"C",
"M"
],
"codeLength": 8,
"gameKey": "591b09be-bd5d-47b8-87e2-80ef7446bf56",
"numGuesses": 3,
"message": "Nice try!",
"solved": false,
"user": "Lucas",
"pastResults": [
{
"exact": 0,
"near": 3,
"guess": "CYOOOOOB",
"user": "Lucas"
},
{
"exact": 1,
"near": 2,
"guess": "CYBBOOOB",
"user": "Lucas"
}
],
"result": {
"exact": 1,
"near": 2,
"guess": "CYBBOOOB",
"user": "Lucas"
}
}

Instructions

The API was developed as a self contained application that can be deployed to a container or executed locally. The Maven build will create a Jar file. To run the application just use java -jar command on mastermind-api-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar.

Final Considerations

1 - What was the hardest part?

The hardest part for me was to manage the time to finish everything I had planed. I wanted my solution to be professional and truly functional, in the sense that you can really play.

2 - If you could go back and give yourself advice at the beginning of the project, what would it be?

Try to find a team way before the event date and start planning really early.

3 - If you could change something about this challenge, what would it be?

I think the multiplayer game play could be a little bit better explained.