COP 4020 — Programming Languages I January 7, 2009
Homework 1: Introduction to Programming Concepts
See webcourses and the syllabus for due dates.
In this homework you will learn some of the basics of Oz and the Mozart system [UseModels], and, more
importantly, you will get an overview of programming concepts [Concepts].
For all Oz programing exercises, you must run your code using the Mozart/Oz system. See the course’s “Running
Oz” page for instructions about installation and troubleshooting of the Mozart/Oz system on your own computer.
For programming problems for which we provide tests, you can find them all in a zip file, which you can download
from the course resources web page or from Webcourses.
If the tests don’t pass, please try to say why they don’t pass, as this enhances communication and makes commenting
on the code easier and more specific to your problem.
Our tests use the functions in the course library’s TestingNoStop.oz. The Test procedure in this file can be
passed an actual value, a connective (which is used only in printing), and an expected value, as in the following
statement.
{Test {CombA 4 3} ’==’ 24 div (6*1)}
The Assert procedure in this file can be passed a boolean, as in the following statement
{Assert {Comb J I} == {CombB J I}}
Calls to Assert produce no output unless they are passed the argument false. Note that you would not use
Browse or Show around a call to Test or Assert. If you’re not sure how to use our testing code, ask us for help.
Turn in (on Webcourses) your code and output of your testing for all exercises that require code. Please upload code
as text files with the name given in the problem or testing file and with the suffix .oz. Please use the name of the
main function as the name of the file. Please upload test output and English answers as plain text files with suffix
.txt or as PDF files with suffix .pdf. (In any case, don’t put spaces or tabs in your file names!)
Your code should compile with Oz, if it doesn’t you probably should keep working on it. If you don’t have time, at
least tell us that you didn’t get it to compile.
You should use helping functions whenever you find that useful. Unless we specifically say how you are to solve a
problem, feel free to use any functions from the Oz library (base environment), especially functions like Map and
FoldR.
Don’t hesitate to contact the staff if you are stuck at some point.
For background, you should read Chapter 1 of the textbook [VH04] (except section 1.7). But you may also want to
refer to the reference and tutorial material on the Mozart/Oz web site. See also the course resources page.
Reading Problems
The problems in this section are intended to get you to read the book, ideally in advance of class meetings.
Read section 1.1 and 1.2 of the textbook [VH04] and answer the following questions.
1. [UseModels]
(a) (2 points) What does {Browse symbol} do in Oz?
(b) (3 points) What kind of character must a variable identifier start with in Oz?
Read sections 1.3-1.15 of the textbook and answer the following questions.
2. [Concepts] [UseModels]
(a) (3 points) What is pattern matching used for in Oz?
(b) (2 points) Give a brief example.
