Update Kart - codepath/compsci_guides GitHub Wiki

Unit 5 Session 1 (Click for link to problem statements)

TIP102 Unit 5 Session 1 Standard (Click for link to problem statements)

Problem Highlights

  • 💡 Difficulty: Easy
  • ⏰ Time to complete: 3-5 mins
  • 🛠️ Topics: Class Attributes

1: U-nderstand

Understand what the interviewer is asking for by using test cases and questions about the problem.

  • Established a set (2-3) of test cases to verify their own solution later.
  • Established a set (1-2) of edge cases to verify their solution handles complexities.
  • Have fully understood the problem and have no clarifying questions.
  • Have you verified any Time/Space Constraints for this problem?
  • What is the task?
    • Update the kart attribute of player_one and verify the change using the get_player() method.
HAPPY CASE
Input: Update player_one's kart to "Dolphin Dasher"
Output: "Yoshi driving the Dolphin Dasher"
Explanation: The `kart` attribute of `player_one` is updated successfully, and this change is reflected in the output.

EDGE CASE
Input: Update kart to an empty string
Output: "Yoshi driving the "
Explanation: The kart is updated to an empty string, and the output reflects this.

2: M-atch

Match what this problem looks like to known categories of problems, e.g. Linked List or Dynamic Programming, and strategies or patterns in those categories.

For class attribute update problems, we want to consider the following approaches:

  • Directly modifying object attributes using dot notation.
  • Verifying changes using existing class methods.

3: P-lan

Plan the solution with appropriate visualizations and pseudocode.

General Idea: Update the kart attribute of player_one and use the get_player() method to confirm the update.

1) Access `player_one.kart` using dot notation.
2) Assign the new value "Dolphin Dasher" to `player_one.kart`.
3) Use the `get_player()` method to verify that the kart has been updated.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

  • Forgetting to use dot notation to access and modify the attribute.
  • Not verifying the update using the get_player() method.

4: I-mplement

Implement the code to solve the algorithm.

player_one.kart = "Dolphin Dasher"
print(player_one.get_player())  # Output: "Yoshi driving the Dolphin Dasher"

5: R-eview

Review the code by running specific example(s) and recording values (watchlist) of your code's variables along the way.

  • Trace through your code with the following input:
  • player_one.kart = "Dolphin Dasher"
  • Verify that the output of get_player() is "Yoshi driving the Dolphin Dasher".

6: E-valuate

Evaluate the performance of your algorithm and state any strong/weak or future potential work.

  • Time Complexity: O(1) because updating an attribute runs in constant time.
  • Space Complexity: O(1) as we are only modifying an existing attribute.