Master Mind

I wrote a Mastermind game in C#. It is my first C# program and I only got help from MSDN and you. I attached the code. Please tell me how could I make it better and the problems it has.

Thank You.

NOTE: File uploader doesn't let me upload *.cs files so I renamed them.

I thought the standard extension for C# files is .cs so as to not be confused with C source files.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by siavoshkc

NOTE: File uploader doesn't let me upload *.cs files so I renamed them.

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:rolleyes:

>Please tell me how could I make it better and the problems it has.
I've been working on too many large .NET projects. The first thing out of my mouth was "that's it?". :rolleyes:

Code:

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private static string GetUserGuessString(uint charNum)
{
    string userGuess = "";
    while (userGuess.Length < charNum)
    {
        char userGuessChar = Console.ReadKey(true).KeyChar;
        if (userGuessChar >= 'a' && userGuessChar <= 'z')
        {
            Console.Write(userGuessChar);
            userGuess += userGuessChar;
        }
    }
    return userGuess;           
}

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Classic example of when to use a StringBuilder instead of a string. Your while loop generates one new string every pass through the while loop, making more garbage for the GC. A few simple changes improves the behavior.

Code:

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private static string GetUserGuessString(uint charNum)
{
    StringBuilder userGuess = new StringBuilder();
    while (userGuess.Length < charNum)
    {
        char userGuessChar = Console.ReadKey(true).KeyChar;
        if (userGuessChar >= 'a' && userGuessChar <= 'z')
        {
            Console.Write(userGuessChar);
            userGuess.Append(userGuessChar);
        }
    }
    return userGuess.ToString();           
}

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You'll want to do this any place you're using the += operator on strings. Also, remember that you can declare variables pretty much anywhere, so take advantage of it and declare them as close as possible to where they're used. It's mostly a style thing, but it also helps other people grok your code. On any non-trivial method, I prefer to enclose my locals in an extra pair of brackets to restrict their scope further.

If you're striving towards CLS compliance, you'll want to add the [assembly: System.CLSCompliant(true)] attribute to your AssemblyInfo.cs. If you get FxCop, a useful code diagnostic tool, you may see that the interface to your GameCore class is not CLS compliant due to the uints as arguments. Of course, since your GameCore class is a private class, it may ignore that issue altogether.

I changed strings to StringBuilder and added the attribute. I also added back space functionality.

[EDIT]
I downloaded that tool and analyzed the code. It just says your assembly should have a strong name.