The following is the general criteria that will be used for grading programming assignments. Note that although compilation is given 5 points, in reality, a non-compiling program may lose points for correctness as well because it will not be possible to test it. Therefore, do not turn in non-compiling programs. In general, a program that compiles but is not fully correct or functional is much better than a program that does not compile at all.
| Criteria | Points |
| Compilation | (5 pts)
minus 1 for up to two very minor errors minus 5 for a non-compiling program file |
| Style | (10 pts) |
|
2 pts
Appropriate choice of descriptive variable and field names (excluding loop and temporary variables); Use of named constants |
|
2 pts
Consistent indentation of lines, braces; Good use of spacing within lines of code; Lines of source code be kept less than about 80 characters wide |
|
3 pts
Each file begins with header comment; Each method definition begins with comment (e.g. stating its parameters, return type, and what it does); Appropriate internal comments in methods and for field or variable declarations |
|
3 pts
Logical grouping of fields, methods, constructors, and other code within files; Proper abstraction of large or repeated blocks of code as methods; Each method should have one logical purpose, that can be explained in a single sentence |
| Program correctness | (10 - 35 pts depending on the assignment) |