Part 1 where I introduced the concept and did it in CFML:
http://webdeveloperpadawan.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/hamlets-monkey-code-for-fun.html
Part 2 Where I ported the project into a java class with some JSON file read and writing:
http://webdeveloperpadawan.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/hamlets-monkey-part-2.html
OK So now this whole project is moving toward where I was really excited to take it. GOOGLE! hahah I want to put this project on Google App Engine (GAE) so it uses cloud computing. That way a GAE cloud instance is like an actual monkey, tapping away at the keyboard and trying to re-write Hamlet! Awesome! This straight away introduces two potential problems:
- I've got to turn the project into a java servlet
- Tracking progress - In part 2 we added file storage, this won't work in the cloud, so we'll need to find a better method.
OK So converting the main crux of the method to a servlet isn't that complicated. The first thing you need to do is install the GAE plugin for eclipse. https://developers.google.com/appengine/docs/java/tools/eclipse Then we'll convert the project we made in Part 2 to a servlet, the public class needs to extend HTTPServlet:
public class Shakespearemonkey extends HttpServlet {
and the main method becomes doGet, which is what is called when the servlet responds to a http get request:
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException {
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException {
int intCount = 0;
String strSubString = "";
String strShakespeare = Shakespeare.replaceAll("[^a-zA-Z]", ""); //Shakespeare without spaces etc
String strMonkeyString = "";
String strBestSoFar = "";
response.setContentType("text/html");
while (intCount < intNumLoops) {
intCount++;
//generate the random guess, one keystroke at a time
strMonkeyString = strMonkeyString + Character.toString(generateRandomLetter());
strSubString = strShakespeare.substring(0,strMonkeyString.length());
//check if we've guessed correctly so far
if(strMonkeyString.equalsIgnoreCase(strSubString)){
//Is this our best guess so far
if(strSubString.length() > strBestSoFar.length()){
strBestSoFar = strSubString;
}
}else{
//incorrect guess, start again
strMonkeyString = "";
}
}
trackProgress(intCount,strBestSoFar);
//purely for output, re-read the latest and update user on progress
try {
response.getWriter().println("Good Morning, I am your monkey! I will be trying to guess the string: " + strShakespeare + "<br />");
MonkeyResults monkeyresults = readResultsFromFile();
response.getWriter().println("My best guess so far is: ");
response.getWriter().println((String) monkeyresults.getBestGuess());
response.getWriter().println("<br />I have made ");
response.getWriter().println((int) monkeyresults.getKeyStrokes());
response.getWriter().println("keystrokes");
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
So what I've done is created an object for storing all our progress data. Possibly not necessary / overkill but its OO and it feels good. It's just two getters and setters, so I won't bore you with the code. What is different in the trackProgress function though is I've replaced the JSON code with this:
MonkeyResults monkeyResults = readResultsFromFile();
if(monkeyResults.getKeyStrokes() != 0 && monkeyResults.getBestGuess() != ""){
strBestGuessFromFile = (String) monkeyResults.getBestGuess();
intKeyStrokesFromFile = (int) monkeyResults.getKeyStrokes();
}
So I'm going to use the GAE datastore to keep track of our progress. The first step is writing to the datastore:
static Key theResultsKey = KeyFactory.createKey("Results","tblMonkeyResults");
DatastoreService datastore = DatastoreServiceFactory.getDatastoreService();
private void writeResultsToFile(int intKeyStrokes, String strBestGuess){
//I write the number of keystrokes and the best guess so far to the datastore
Entity objDaoOut = new Entity("Results", "tblMonkeyResults");
objDaoOut.setProperty("intKeyStrokes",intKeyStrokes);
objDaoOut.setProperty("strBestGuess", strBestGuess);
datastore.put(objDaoOut);
}
private MonkeyResults readResultsFromFile() {
//I read results from the datastore and return an instance of class MonkeyResults
MonkeyResults monkeyResults = new MonkeyResults();
long intStrokes = 0;
String strGuess = "";
try{
Entity objDaoIn = datastore.get(theResultsKey);
intStrokes = (long) objDaoIn.getProperty("intKeyStrokes");
strGuess = (String) objDaoIn.getProperty("strBestGuess");
}catch(EntityNotFoundException e){
//e.printStackTrace();
}finally{
monkeyResults.setKeyStrokes((int)intStrokes);
monkeyResults.setBestGuess(strGuess);
}
return monkeyResults;
}
Once you're done, you should be able to test it locally, if it works you right click on the project and goto Google -> Deploy to App Engine. Hey presto google uploads it all for you and you should have a successfully running monkey!
Here's my monkey: http://shakespearmonkey.appspot.com/ http://pastebin.com/1etNP1ge
