1. C4 Alpha v2026.sp¶

Notice

This document contains the description for the C4 Alpha project assigned to the students in the Spring 2026 CSCI 1302 classes at the University of Georgia.

1.1. Project Deadlines¶

This C4 Alpha project is broken up into three parts, and each part has its own deadline. The deadlines for each part are summarized in Table 1.4, and instructions are provided in the Project Checklist section later in this document.

Table 1.4 C4 Alpha Deadlines¶
Part	Due Date
1	Thursday, February 5^th @ 11:55PM
2	Tuesday, February 10^th @ 11:55PM
3	Monday, February 16^th @ 11:55PM

1.2. Project Preface¶

This first CSCI 1302 project for Spring 2026 is designed to help you apply and extend your prerequisite Java programming knowledge with new concepts from CSCI 1302 in a Unix development environment (i.e., Odin).

Course-Specific Learning Outcomes

If you work on and complete this project, then you will gain exposure and practice with the following learning outcomes:

#	Exposure	Description
LO1.a	⭐⭐	Navigate and modify files, directories, and permissions in a multi-user Unix-like environment.
LO1.b	⭐	Execute, redirect, pipe, and manage programs/processes in a multi-user Unix-like environment.
LO1.c	⭐⭐	Create and modify text files and source code using a powerful terminal-based text editor such as Emacs or Vi.
LO1.d	⭐⭐	Use shell commands to compile new and existing software solutions that are organized into multi-level packages and have external dependencies.
LO2.b	⭐⭐	Define, throw, and propagate exceptions appropriately in a software solution.
LO3.a	⭐⭐	Create and update source code that adheres to established style guidelines.
LO3.b	⭐	Create class, interface, method, and inline documentation that satisfies a set of requirements.
LO7.c	⭐	Use common abstract data types and structures, including lists, queues, arrays, and stacks in solving typical problems.

1.3. Project Description¶

In this C4 Alpha project, you will implement and test a class that represents the popular board game Connect Four.

1.4. Project Checklist¶

The steps in the following checklist assume you have already read the other parts of the project description. The first time that you read this section, simply take notes, then reread it again later to begin working on the project.

Part 1. Prepare and Plan (due Thursday, February 5^th @ 11:55PM)

Preparing for Part 1

To prepare for this part of the project, you must first read the entire project description. After you have done that, follow the steps provided below to prepare and plan out the implementation for the cs1302.game.ConnectFour class that will finish writing the code for later in Part 2. If you skip reading the entirety of the project description, then you risk missing important details that should be considered when planning out your implementation. Also, even though you are not writing code for this part, your submission for this part is still expected to meet all the non-functional requirements stated later in the project description.

Due Before:: Thursday, February 5^th @ 11:55PM.

Read through the entire project description and write down questions as you go.
We recommend reading the project description again. A second read-through will help you fill in gaps in your understanding and you may be able to answer some of the questions you wrote down during your first read-through.
If you have not yet done so, download the starter code on Odin by following the instructions in the Getting Started dropdown provided earlier in this document.
Read all of the comments included in src/cs1302/game/ConnectFour.java, but do not write any code yet! Instead, try to list out the high-level steps for the constructor and methods using a sequence of distinct steps that you can turn into code later.
Read through the notes you just wrote. If you see that the steps you wrote for one method include a sequence of steps in another method, then consider whether you can have one method simply call the other. If you see the exact same steps in several methods, you should consider factoring out the common parts into a single, separate method that you can call from both places. Those are both examples of code reuse and refactoring!
Remember, you have not been tasked with writing any code just yet. For each unimplemented method in ConnectFour.java, write down your plan for that method as a comment inside the method, taking into account what you think will be tested. We suggest your comments take the form of bullet points so that you can easily reuse some or all of them later when you start to implement the code in Part 2.
Before Thursday, February 5^th @ 11:55PM, follow the submission instructions to prepare Part 1 of your project for submission and actually submit it. If your submission contains any implemented methods, then it will only count for the second part’s due date and not the first part’s due date. The specific submission command to use in the last step of those instructions for this part of the project is stated below:
```
submit1302 cs1302-c4-alpha part1
```

1.5. Functional Requirements¶

A functional requirement defines a specific behavior between program inputs and outputs, and a collection of functional requirements describes how a program should function. If your submission satisfies a funtional requirement listed in this section, then the requirement’s point total is added to your submission grade.

cs1302.game.ConnectFour (100 points)

Starter Code

The cs1302.game.ConnectFour class is one of the classes that you are responsible for implementing and testing. When you downloaded the starter code, a partially implemented version of this class was included under the project’s src directory:

Table 1.5 Starter Code for `cs1302.game.ConnectFour`¶
Item	Description
Source	`src/cs1302/game/ConnectFour.java`
FQN	`cs1302.game.ConnectFour`
Package Name	`cs1302.game`
Simple Name	`ConnectFour`

Dependencies

It should also be noted that the ConnectFour class depends on some classes that we have included in lib/cs1302-gameutil.jar.

Class	Description
`cs1302.gameutil.GamePhase`	A `GamePhase` object can be used to represent a phase of a game.
`cs1302.gameutil.Token`	A `Token` object can be used to represent a player or a player’s item in a game.
`cs1302.gameutil.TokenGrid`	The `TokenGrid` class includes convenience methods to display a two-dimensional array of tokens.

You do not have access to the source code for the classes in that Java ARchive (JAR) file; however, API documentation for those classes is provided here.

The compilation instructions that we provide below will ensure that these dependencies are available on the classpath so that the compiler can find them.

Game Phases

Your implementation of cs1302.game.ConnectFour is expected to support the multiple phases defined by the cs1302.gameutil.GamePhase enumeration.

When a ConnectFour game object is constructed, it is said to be in the GamePhase.NEW phase, which just means that GamePhase.NEW is assigned to the object’s phase instance variable. The game object may move into other phases as methods are called on it. The behavior of some methods depends on the phase the object is in when called.

Here is a high-level overview of all the required phases and the methods that trigger a game object to change what phase it is in:

../../_images/phases.png — Fig. 1.7 High-level overview of all the required phases and the methods that trigger phase changes.¶

The details for each game phase are provided in the dropdowns below:

GamePhase.NEW

GamePhase.NEW:: A newly constructed game is in this phase.

When a ConnectFour object is created, the constructor should check for any exceptional cases, then initialize the object’s instance variables to the values described below:

Instance Variable	Description and Initial Value
`rows`	the supplied value of the `rows` constructor parameter
`cols`	the supplied value of the `cols` constructor parameter
`grid`	a two-dimensional `Token` array with `rows`-many rows and `cols`-many columns
`player`	a one-dimensional `Token` array of length `2`
`numDropped`	the `int` value `0`
`lastDropRow`	the `int` value `-1`
`lastDropCol`	the `int` value `-1`
`phase`	`GamePhase.NEW`

Below is an example of some code that constructs a game object with six rows and seven columns followed by an illustration of what the inside of that object should look like when it’s done being constructed:

ConnectFour game = new ConnectFour(6, 7);

cs1302.game.ConnectFourTester

Starter Code

The cs1302.game.ConnectFourTester class is where you will write code to test your cs1302.game.ConnectFour class. When you downloaded the starter code, a partially implemented version of this class was included under the project’s src directory:

Table 1.6 Starter Code for `cs1302.game.ConnectFourTester`¶
Item	Description
Source	`src/cs1302/game/ConnectFourTester.java`
FQN	`cs1302.game.ConnectFourTester`
Package Name	`cs1302.game`
Simple Name	`ConnectFourTester`

cs1302.game.ConnectFourCLI

Starter Code

The cs1302.game.ConnectFourCLI class provides a command-line program to let users play your game. When you downloaded the starter code, an implemented version of this program was included under the project’s src directory:

Table 1.7 Starter Code for `cs1302.game.ConnectFourCLI`¶
Item	Description
Source	`src/cs1302/game/ConnectFourCLI.java`
FQN	`cs1302.game.ConnectFourCLI`
Package Name	`cs1302.game`
Simple Name	`ConnectFourCLI`

This command-line program does not replace the testing that you are asked to do in ConnectFourTester. Instead, it is provided to give you a way to play your game, assuming it is implemented properly. It may also help you when you debug your code.

1.6. Non-Functional Requirements¶

A non-functional requirement specifies criteria that can be used to judge your submission independently from its function or behavior. If functional requirements describe what your submission should do, then the non-functional requirements describe how your submission is supposed to be. If your submission does not satisfy a non-functional requirement listed in this section, then the requirement’s point total is deducted from your submission grade.

1.7. Submission Instructions¶

You will submit each part of your project on Odin. Before you submit each part, make sure that your project files are located in a directory called cs1302-c4-alpha. If you followed the instructions provided earlier in the Getting Started dropdown to download the project’s starter code, then cs1302-c4-alpha is already your directory name.

How to Submit

To submit a specific part of the project, first change into the parent of your project directory (i.e., one directory above it), then complete the steps below.

Ensure that all of the .java files in your project compiles without any errors or warnings on Odin using the specific commands provided in the compilation instructions for the cs1302.game.ConnectFour, cs1302.game.ConnectFourTester, and cs1302.game.ConnectFourCLI classes, respectively.
Check every .java file in your submission for code style violations using the check1302 command. If you have been following the instructions provided earlier in this document, then you have done this frequently, but it does not hurt to double-check it before you submit. If you are in the parent directory of cs1302-c4-alpha, then you can check your entire submission using the command below:
```
check1302 cs1302-c4-alpha
```
Warning

If there are style violations, then fix them, recompile, and retest your code! Retesting is important to ensure that you do not accidentally break your code when fixing a style issue.
Ensure that you have generated and hosted the API documentation website for your code, as described in the related non-functional requirement.

Warning

You only need to create the symbolic link to your project’s doc directory at ~/public_html/cs1302-c4-doc once using the ln command to host the website. Assuming that the symbolic link was created correctly, you do not need to create it again; however, you must regenerate the website files under doc using the appropriate javadoc command to update the contents of that website.
Ensure that your SUBMISSION.md file is up to date, as described in the related non-functional requirement.
Once you are certain that the code included in your proect compiles, has no code style violations, and includes both an up-to-date doc directory and SUBMISSION.md file, then you can submit your work using the following command, replacing N with the specific part of the project you are submitting:
```
submit1302 cs1302-c4-alpha partN
```
Warning

Do NOT literally type partN; instead, be sure to replace N with the specific part of the project you are submitting! For example, use part1 when submitting Part 1.
Inspect the output of the last command to verify that your project was submitted. Your cs1302-c4-alpha directory should now contain a receipt file that starts with rec. The exact name of the receipt file may vary, depending on the part of the project that you are submitting.

If you have any problems submitting your project then please contact your instructor as soon as possible; however, doing this the day or night the project is due is probably not the best idea.

1. C4 Alpha v2026.sp¶

1.1. Project Deadlines¶

1.2. Project Preface¶

1.3. Project Description¶

1.4. Project Checklist¶

1.5. Functional Requirements¶

1.6. Non-Functional Requirements¶

1.7. Submission Instructions¶

1.8. Frequently Asked Questions¶