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Hangman Game API Challenge

This task is to complete a HTTP RESTful API for a Hangman game. The API should allow players to create and retrieve a game, along with modifying the game's state by guessing letters. The development of the API has been started but the logic to make a guess is pending.

The API can be developed with C# (using .NET 6), Java (version 17), Javascript (node version 18) or Python (version 3.11.x) and the codebase should be available through a public Github repository.

The primary goal of the challenge is not necessarily to achieve perfect accuracy in all aspects. While there are specific objectives to be met, the key focus lies in assessing your ability to perform the following tasks: comprehending the requirements, understanding the problem at hand, examining existing applications, setting up your development environment, and utilizing GitHub effectively.

We recommend spending a maximum 2 hours on the challenge (excluding setup); however the time spent is entirely up to the individual.

Recommended approach:

The recommended approach for starting this exercise is to:

  1. Install git onto your computer. See here
  2. (optional) Create a new github account here, you can also use an existing account if you have one.
  3. Clone this repository and copy the contents of either csharp, java, javascript or python into a new repository for your account.
  4. Follow the specific README.md instructions for the chosen platform to run the application (see README.md inside each language folder).
  5. Follow instructions here to create games, check the game details and make a guess with the requests detailed below.
  6. Review the guess logic for your chosen platform and update it so that the requirements are fulfilled.
  7. (optional) Review the stretch items here.

Requirements:

  • The API should be created using HTTP, return JSON (Javascript Object Notation) and RESTful principles.
  • The API should allow creation of a game and during creation will select from a pre-defined set of words.
  • The game should allow a maximum of 6 incorrect letter guesses.
  • The API should track the list of incorrect letter guesses game for a game. A specific letter can only be used once and the API should respond with an error if a user attempts to re-use a letter.
  • The game word returned in the API should unmask characters as correct guesses have been made.
  • The game should be completed (or marked as won) if all of the letters in the word have been correctly guessed and the remaining attempts is above 0.
  • The game should be not completed (or marked as lost) if the remaining attempts reaches 0.
  • If the game is not in progress then a guess cannot be made.
  • The API should support the following HTTP endpoints:

POST /games/
Starts a new game of Hangman. This endpoint should initialize a new game with a word and return a game ID.

GET /games/{game_id}
Retrieves the current state of the game identified by the provided game_id. The response should include the word with masked letters, the incorrect guesses made so far, the number of remaining attempts, and the game status (e.g. in progress, won or lost).

POST /games/{game_id}/guesses
Allows the player to make a letter guess for the game identified by game_id. The guess should be submitted as the request body in JSON format, containing the guessed letter. The response should include the updated game state after the guess.

Example requests

The below examples are just suggestions, request and responses can be tailored per submission.

Starting/Creating a new game

NOTE: the response below is just for demonstrative purposes, calling this API will return a different identifier each time.

Request: POST /games
Response: 201

"8dfff98b-976a-4141-9a96-38fb86522daf"

Retrieving current game state

NOTE: the ID in the path we use is from the game we have created, it will be different for each game created.

Request: GET /games/8dfff98b-976a-4141-9a96-38fb86522daf
Response: 200

{
  "word": "_ _ _ _ _",
  "incorrect_guesses": [],
  "remaining_attempts": 6,
  "status": "in progress"
}

Make a guess for a game

NOTE: the ID in the path we use is from the game we have created, it will be different for each game created.

Request: POST /games/8dfff98b-976a-4141-9a96-38fb86522daf/guesses
Request body:

{ "letter": "A" }

Response: 201

{
  "word": "_ A _ _ _",
  "incorrect_guesses": [],
  "remaining_attempts": 6,
  "status": "in progress"
}

Testing the application

Platform specific runtimes and README guides can be found within the repository platform folders; however once the application is running the API usage is the same across the languages. All of the hangman APIs run on port 4567 and can be accessed from http://localhost:4567

We recommend using Postman for making the requests above. Once postman is installed, you can skip the account creation and you will be presented with a user interface similar to this:

postman_home.png

At this point if you select New from the top ribbon and then select HTTP Request:

postman_new_http.png

You should be presented with an empty HTTP request to be filled out. At this point using the example requests and requirements above you can call the APIs (provided the application is running). An example of how a successful request would look us:

postman_example_request.png

NOTE: If interested additional tutorials for postman can be found here: https://www.guru99.com/postman-tutorial.html

Development tooling

For most of the API choices Visual Studio Code is a good choice for minor adjustments, especially if you're running the application via the terminal/command line.

For language specific tooling the following options exist to facilitate better debugging and more coupled options:

Python

PyCharm Community is often the go to IDE.

C# .NET

For Windows we typically use Visual Studio, a macOS & Linux version does exist (originally Xamarin studio, then adjusted). However we typically recommend using Rider (NOTE: Rider does not have a community edition, it does however have a 30 day free trial).

Javascript

Visual Studio Code is often the go-to tooling for Javascript, especially when paired with prettier and ESLint plugins.

Java

Most Java developers begin development using Eclipse; however we recommend using IntelliJ Community. The support is often better and it's generally a better experience for most tasks.

Notes

  • The exercise allows for variation in the answers or adjustments to the existing codebase, this is to allow flexibility for answers.
  • The created games are held in memory, as a result when an application is stopped or reloaded the existing games will be cleared also. Subsequently games would need to be re-created with the POST /games/ API endpoint.

Stretch

  • The game should handle both uppercase and lowercase letters as valid guesses.
  • The API should return appropriate error responses for invalid request body or game IDs.
  • The submitted repository should include a brief README.md file in the root directory.
  • The code should have unit test coverage.
  • Implement an endpoint to remove an existing game using the DELETE HTTP method DELETE /games/{game_id}. An example is:

Request: DELETE /games/8dfff98b-976a-4141-9a96-38fb86522daf
Response: 204