#pauls-hangman Utilizing startup code from udacity full stack ND project 4.

1. Update the value of application in app.yaml to the app ID you have registered in the App Engine admin console and would like to use to host your instance of this sample.
2. Run the app with the devserver using dev_appserver.py DIR, and ensure it's running by visiting the API Explorer - by default localhost:8080/_ah/api/explorer. Deploy the application.

##Game Description: Hangman is a word guessing game. Each game begins with a random 'target' word at the specified length, and a maximum number of 'attempts'. 'Guesses' are sent to the make_move endpoint which will reply with game state information, including JSON indicating either: wrong guess, correct guess, you win, or game over (if the maximum number of attempts is reached). Many different Hangman games can be played by many different Users at any given time. Each game can be retrieved or played by using the path parameter urlsafe_game_key.

A game is scored points based on the number of remaining attempts when a puzzle is solved. Difficulty can be increased by reducing the number of attempts. Consistent high performance over a number of games is reflected in a sliding global rank score, which allows players to be ranked across multiple games, and reflects varying difficulty settings. The global rank rewards higher difficulty settings.

##Files Included:

• api.py: Contains endpoints and game playing logic.
• app.yaml: App configuration.
• cron.yaml: Cronjob configuration.
• main.py: Handler for taskqueue handler.
• models.py: Entity and message definitions including helper methods.
• utils.py: Helper function for retrieving ndb.Models by urlsafe Key string.
• gamefunc.py: for generating target words from a list of the 10 000 most common english words.
• dictionary.dat: A list of the 10 000 most common english words.
• design.txt: some thoughts on the model design.
• hangman.py: a standalone CLI implementation of hangman used to initially model the data models, and game mechanics.

##Endpoints Included:

• create_user

  • Path: 'user'
  • Method: POST
  • Parameters: user_name, email (optional)
  • Returns: Message confirming creation of the User.
  • Description: Creates a new User. user_name provided must be unique. Will raise a ConflictException if a User with that user_name already exists.

• del_game

  • Path: 'del_game'
  • Method: PUT
  • Parameters: urlsafe_game_key
  • Returns: Message confirming deletion of game
  • Description: Deletes a game in progress. Will raise a ForbiddenExceptionif attempting to delete a completed game, and will raise a NotFoundException if attempting to delete a game that does not exist.

• new_game

  • Path: 'game'
  • Method: POST
  • Parameters: user_name, max_tries, word_size
  • Returns: GameForm with initial game state.
  • Description: Creates a new Game. user_name provided must correspond to an existing user - will raise a NotFoundException if not. max_tries determines how many incorrect guesses are available before game ends. This also impacts the global rankings caluclations. A higher max tries, means a lower ranking score. word_size determines the length of the target word. Word length also impacts the ranking score of the game. the longer the word, the more ranking points. Also adds a task to a task queue to update the average moves remaining for active games. Throws NotFoundException if the user name is not valid, throws BadRequestException if there are no words available to match word length in dictionary.dat

• get_game

  • Path: 'game/{urlsafe_game_key}'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: urlsafe_game_key
  • Returns: GameForm with current game state.
  • Description: Returns the current state of a game. Returns ForbiddenException if game has been deleted via the api, and NotFoundException if the game doesn't exist.

• get_game_history

• Path: 'game/history/{urlsafe_game_key}'

• Method: GET

• Parameters: urlsafe_game_key

• Returns: a list of all game operations performed.

• Description: Returns all the manipulations on the game state since the game was started, including attempts and success of attempts.

• make_move

  • Path: 'game/{urlsafe_game_key}'
  • Method: PUT
  • Parameters: urlsafe_game_key, guess
  • Returns: GameForm with new game state.
  • Description: Accepts a 'guess' and returns the updated state of the game. If this causes a game to end, a corresponding Score entity will be created.

• get_scores

  • Path: 'scores'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: None
  • Returns: ScoreForms.
  • Description: Returns all Scores in the database (unordered).

• get_user_scores

  • Path: 'scores/user/{user_name}'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: user_name
  • Returns: ScoreForms.
  • Description: Returns all Scores recorded by the provided player (unordered). Will raise a NotFoundException if the User does not exist.

• get_user_games

  • Path: 'games/user/{user_name}'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: user_name
  • Returns: All GameForms for the user.
  • Description: Returns all Games recorded by the provided player (unordered). Will raise a NotFoundException if the User does not exist.

• get_user_rankings

  • Path: 'get_user_rankings'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: None.
  • Returns: An ordered list of player rankings.
  • Description: Returns all users with completed games, ranked by average historical score.

• get_leader_board

  • Path: 'get_leader_board'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: Number of results
  • Returns: An ordered list of all games.
  • Description: Returns all games, ranked by points scored in this single game. differs from user rankings, because it ignores historical games, or users history.

• get_active_game_count

  • Path: 'games/active'
  • Method: GET
  • Parameters: None
  • Returns: StringMessage
  • Description: Gets the average number of attempts remaining for all games from a previously cached memcache key.

##Models Included:

• User

  • Stores unique user_name and (optional) email address.

• Game

  • Stores unique game states. Associated with User model via KeyProperty.

• Score

  • Records completed games. Associated with Users model via KeyProperty.

##Forms Included:

• GameForm

  • Representation of a Game's state (urlsafe_key, attempts_remaining, game_over flag, message, user_name).

• NewGameForm

  • Used to create a new game (user_name, min, max, attempts)

• MakeMoveForm

  • Inbound make move form (guess).

• ScoreForm

  • Representation of a completed game's Score (user_name, date, won flag, guesses).

• UserRank

  • Representation of a users global rank compared to all players. (username, ranking score)

• GameHistory

  • Representation of all moves taken by a player during a game (move_history)

  Utility Forms:

• ScoreForms

• Multiple ScoreForm container.

• UserGames

  • Multiple UserGame container.

• UserRankings

  • Multiple UserRank container.

• StringMessage

  • General purpose String container.