Assignment 1a – Introduction¶

School of Engineering and Technology, University of Washington Tacoma
TCSS 305 Programming Practicum, Winter 2026
Value: 4% of the course grade

Due Date

Sunday, 11 January 2026, 23:59:59

📄 Description¶

You will turn in a short Java program (as an IntelliJ project) to demonstrate that your programming environment setup was successful and to show that you are able to submit your work using Git and GitHub.

This assignment is the first step toward building a UW Bookstore shopping cart application that you will develop in the first 3-4 weeks of the quarter.

🎯 Learning Objectives¶

By completing this assignment, you will:

Set up and configure your Java development environment (JDK 25, IntelliJ IDEA)
Practice using Git and GitHub for version control and submission
Implement a Java class from an interface specification
Apply defensive coding techniques (input validation, exception handling)
Work with BigDecimal for precise monetary calculations
Use IntelliJ's code analysis tools to maintain code quality

✅ Before You Begin¶

Guide

Environment Setup

Ensure you have completed the environment setup:

Installed JDK 25
Installed IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate)
Created a GitHub account linked to your UW email
Installed Checkstyle-IDEA plugin

📦 Project Setup¶

This project uses GitHub Classroom to distribute starter code and collect submissions.

Accept the Assignment¶

GitHub Classroom Assignment

Accept Assignment 1a

Click the GitHub Classroom assignment link provided by your instructor.
First time only: GitHub Classroom will ask you to select your name from the course roster. This links your UW identity to your GitHub username. Select carefully—this cannot be changed later.
Click Accept this assignment. GitHub creates a personal repository for you (e.g., TCSS305-a1a-yourGitHubUsername).
Wait for the repository to be created (this may take a moment).
Click the link to your new repository, then click the green Code button and copy the HTTPS URL.

Clone the Repository in IntelliJ¶

Open IntelliJ IDEA.
If a project is already open: File → New → Project from Version Control If on the Welcome screen: Get from VCS
Paste the repository URL you copied.
Choose a location on your computer for the project files.
Click Clone.
When prompted, click Trust Project to allow IntelliJ to load the project configuration.

Troubleshooting IntelliJ + GitHub Authentication

If IntelliJ prompts for credentials or shows authentication errors, try one of these solutions:

Option A: Personal Access Token (Recommended)

Step 1: Generate a Token on GitHub

Ensure you are logged into GitHub with the account you used for GitHub Classroom
Go to GitHub Token Settings
Click Generate new token → Generate new token (classic)
Add a note (e.g., "IntelliJ TCSS 305")
Under Select scopes, check:
- repo (full repository access)
- read:org (read organization data)
🚩 Click Generate token and copy it immediately — you won't see it again!

Step 2: Configure IntelliJ

Go to Settings → Version Control → GitHub
Remove any existing account that isn't working
Click + → Log In with Token
Paste your token and click Log In

Caution

Treat your token like a password. Never share it or commit it to a repository.

Option B: GitHub Desktop

Use GitHub Desktop for cloning and pushing. IntelliJ handles everything else.

Setup:

Install GitHub Desktop and sign in with your GitHub account
On your repository page, click Code → Open with GitHub Desktop
Choose a local path and click Clone
In IntelliJ: File → Open and select the cloned folder

Workflow:

Operation	Tool	Needs GitHub Auth?
Clone	GitHub Desktop	Yes
Edit code	IntelliJ	No
Commit	IntelliJ (Git → Commit)	No
Push	GitHub Desktop	Yes

Commit as often as you like in IntelliJ. When ready to submit, open GitHub Desktop and click Push origin.

Guide

Git Version Control — New to Git? Start here.

Guide

IDE Basics — First time using IntelliJ? Start here.

📁 Project Structure¶

TCSS305-a1a/
├── src/                          ← Source code
│   └── edu/uw/tcss/
│       ├── app/
│       │   └── StarterApplication.java
│       ├── model/
│       │   ├── Item.java             (interface - provided)
│       │   └── StoreItem.java        (implement this)
│       └── WRONG/                    (delete after verification)
│           ├── checkstyleRuleBreaker.java
│           └── InspectionTester.java
├── test/                         ← Unit tests
│   └── edu/uw/tcss/model/
│       └── StoreItemTest.java        (provided tests)
├── .idea/                        ← IntelliJ settings (do not edit)
├── README.md                     ← Links to assignment on course site
└── executive-summary.md          ← Your submission notes

Understanding the Layout¶

Source and Test Folders

IntelliJ separates production code (src/) from test code (test/). This is standard practice in professional Java development. Both folders mirror the same package structure.

Packages

Java uses packages to organize related classes. The package edu.uw.tcss.model corresponds to the folder path edu/uw/tcss/model/. All classes in this package share the declaration:

package edu.uw.tcss.model;

Guide

Java Packages — Learn more about how packages organize Java code.

Key Files

File	Location	Purpose
`StarterApplication.java`	`src/.../app/`	Edit with your academic background
`Item.java`	`src/.../model/`	Interface specification (do not modify)
`StoreItem.java`	`src/.../model/`	Implement this class
`checkstyleRuleBreaker.java`	`src/.../WRONG/`	Linting demo (delete after verification)
`InspectionTester.java`	`src/.../WRONG/`	Inspection demo (delete after verification)
`StoreItemTest.java`	`test/.../model/`	Unit tests (do not modify)
`README.md`	project root	Links to assignment on course site
`executive-summary.md`	project root	Document your submission

Caution

Do not modify Item.java or StoreItemTest.java. Your implementation must work with the provided interface and pass the provided tests.

✏️ Requirements¶

Requirement 1: Verify Linting Tools¶

Guide

Linters and Code Quality — Why linting matters and how to use these tools.

The WRONG package contains two files with intentional code quality violations. Use these files to verify that your linting tools are installed and configured correctly.

Verify Checkstyle¶

In the Project panel, navigate to src/edu/uw/tcss/WRONG/
Open checkstyleRuleBreaker.java
Observe the warnings in the editor (yellow highlights, underlines)
Open the Checkstyle tool window: View → Tool Windows → Checkstyle
Click Check Current File (or right-click in the editor → Check Current File)
Confirm that Checkstyle reports many violations

Verify IntelliJ Inspections¶

Open InspectionTester.java
Observe the warnings in the editor
Run Analyze → Inspect Code...
Select Current File and click OK
Confirm that IntelliJ reports inspection warnings

Delete the WRONG Package¶

Once you have verified both tools are working:

Delete checkstyleRuleBreaker.java
Delete InspectionTester.java
Delete the WRONG folder

Warning

Do not fix the violations in these files—just delete them. They exist only to verify your setup.

Requirement 2: StarterApplication.java¶

Guide

Logging — How to use Java's logging framework.

Remove all existing log messages and console output from the class.

Example of log messages to remove

LOGGER.info(() -> "Should you need String concatenation,  "
     + "use a lambda for lazy evaluation. What's that you ask?");

Using the log level info, add a message describing your academic career up to this point:

What institution did you take 142/143 (programming 1 and 2)?
When did you complete them?
Do you have a college degree before starting this program?
Anything else that you want to share?

Please use multiple calls to the logger object to complete this requirement (i.e., don't smash all of this into one method call).

Requirement 3: StarterApplication.java¶

Guide

Checkstyle Rules Reference — Look up specific Checkstyle violations
IntelliJ Inspections Reference — Look up specific IntelliJ warnings

Edit the Java class such that all warnings and errors are corrected. Right-click on the class name in the Project browser window, Analyze → Inspect Code...

Carefully read each warning/error and correct it. If you are unsure what the warning is for or how to fix it, just ask! I will spend some time in lecture during the first weeks discussing different warnings, why they are there, and how to fix them.

Requirement 4: StoreItem.java¶

Guide

Interface Contracts — Understanding what it means to implement an interface.

Complete the implementation of the StoreItem class based on the provided Item interface and the API descriptions below.

Item Interface

The Item interface defines the contract for all items in the store.

String getName()

Returns the name for this Item.

BigDecimal getPrice()

Returns the unit price for this Item.

BigDecimal calculateTotal(int quantity)

Calculates the total price for the given quantity.

Throws: IllegalArgumentException if quantity is negative.

String getFormattedDescription()

Returns a formatted description suitable for display in a GUI (e.g., "Computer Science Pen, $2.00").

StoreItem Class

The StoreItem class represents a simple item with standard pricing. It implements the Item interface.

StoreItem(String name, BigDecimal price)

Constructor that takes a name and a price.

String getName()

Returns the name for this StoreItem.

BigDecimal getPrice()

Returns the unit price for this StoreItem.

BigDecimal calculateTotal(int quantity)

Returns price × quantity.

Throws: IllegalArgumentException if quantity is negative.

String getFormattedDescription()

Returns the item formatted as name, $price — for example, an item named "Computer Science Pen" with price 2.00 returns Computer Science Pen, $2.00.

String toString()

Returns a debug-friendly representation such as StoreItem[name='...', price=...].

Note: the exact format of toString is not tested; your output does not need to match this document.

Code Defensively¶

Constructors should test for invalid values and reject bad input immediately.

Throw IllegalArgumentException for:

price passed to your class is < 0
name passed to your class is empty

Throw NullPointerException for:

name passed to your class is null
price passed to your class is null

Tip

Use Objects.requireNonNull() to check for null values. This method throws NullPointerException automatically if the argument is null.

Working with BigDecimal¶

All monetary values in this project use BigDecimal instead of double to avoid floating-point precision errors.

Caution

Never convert BigDecimal to double or float when performing calculations.

Key BigDecimal operations:

Operation	Method
Multiply	`price.multiply(BigDecimal.valueOf(quantity))`
Compare	`price.compareTo(BigDecimal.ZERO) < 0`
Format	`NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance(Locale.US)`

External Resources

Unit Test Cases¶

Guide

Introduction to Unit Testing — What unit tests are and why they matter.

This project enables test driven development. The QA team has provided a set of unit test cases based on the provided API description. Ensure that all test cases pass before submission. If a test case fails, carefully read the reason for the failure and correct your code appropriately. Note, all test cases fail upon initial Git clone. You must implement individual methods in StoreItem for the tests to pass.

To run the test class:

Open test > java > edu.uw.tcss.model > StoreItemTest.java
Either click on the play symbol next to the class name or the play button in the top right portion of the IDE UI. Ensure that Current File or StoreItemTest is selected.

Warning

All tests fail when you first clone the project. This is expected! The tests will pass as you implement each method in StoreItem.

Tip

Run tests frequently as you implement each method. This helps you catch issues early and confirms your implementation matches the specification.

Requirement 5: StoreItem.java¶

Edit the Java class such that all warnings and errors are corrected. Right-click on the class name in the Project browser window, Analyze → Inspect Code...

Fixing the warnings and errors will cause you to change your code. Double check that these changes did not introduce defects by re-running the provided test cases.

Requirement 6: Executive Summary¶

Your project includes a file called executive-summary.md. This file documents your project and submission details.

The .md file extension stands for Markdown. Markdown is a markup language used to format plain text. You may already know a markup language — the M in HTML and XML stands for markup. (Note: markup languages are NOT programming languages but instead are tools for formatting text.)

External Resource

Markdown Cheat Sheet

Edit the executive-summary.md file to personalize it for your submission. Carefully read all the text found inside of the enclosing square braces []. Remove all this text (and square braces), replacing it with your own specific details about the project.

📚 Guide Reference¶

Guide	Description
Environment Setup	Installing JDK, IntelliJ, and configuring your development environment
IDE Basics	Getting started with IntelliJ IDEA
Java Packages	How packages organize Java code
Linters and Code Quality	Why linting matters and how to use Checkstyle and IntelliJ Inspections
Checkstyle Rules Reference	Look up specific Checkstyle violations and how to fix them
IntelliJ Inspections Reference	Look up specific IntelliJ warnings and how to fix them
Logging	How to use Java's logging framework
Interface Contracts	Understanding what it means to implement an interface
Introduction to Unit Testing	What unit tests are and why they matter

🚀 Submission and Grading¶

Important

Despite the moderately low point value (4% of the course grade), completing this assignment successfully is critical. You will use these tools and techniques for all future assignments.

Submit your work by committing and pushing to your GitHub repository. See the submission steps below.

Please see the rubric in Canvas for a breakdown of the grade for this assignment.

Submitting Your Work¶

When you are ready to submit, commit and push your changes to GitHub:

In IntelliJ, click Git → Commit.
Select all changed files and write a descriptive commit message (e.g., "Completed Assignment 1a").
Click Commit and Push.
In the Push dialog, click Push.
Verify your submission: Visit your repository on GitHub.com and confirm your latest changes appear.

Submitting with GitHub Desktop (Option B users only)

If you configured IntelliJ with a Personal Access Token (Option A), you can ignore this — just use Commit and Push as described above.

If you're using GitHub Desktop (Option B), follow these steps:

In IntelliJ, click Git → Commit (not "Commit and Push") to save your work locally
Open GitHub Desktop — it will detect your unpushed commits
Click Push origin
Verify on GitHub.com that your changes appear

Operation	Tool
Commit	IntelliJ
Push	GitHub Desktop

Your professor has automatic access to your repository through GitHub Classroom. Make sure your final code is pushed before the deadline.

Tip

You can commit and push multiple times before the deadline. Only your final push will be graded.