Playing Cards
For this question, we ask you to design a card game using the traditional 52-card deck. We divide this question into three parts, so you can complete them in order.
Part One
For the first part, you must design a Game
class representing the game, and
these following functions associated with the class.
add_card(suit, value)
: Creates a new card object with a suit from one of the following strings:Hearts
,Spades
,Clubs
,Diamonds
, and a value from one of the following strings:A
,2
~10
,J
,Q
,K
. This card is represented byi
, wherei
is an integer indicating how many cards have been created before.card_string(card)
: Returns the string representation of the card represented byi
. It follows the format<value> of <suit>
. For example, a card created byadd_card("Spades", "3")
should have a string representation of3 of Spades
.card_beats(card_a, card_b)
: Check if the card represented bycard_a
beats the one represented bycard_b
. A card beats another card if and only if it has a greater value. The value of the cards are ordered fromA
toK
.
You may implement these however you like. However, preferably this should be easily expandable to accommodate new requirements.
Try it yourself
Solution
There are numerous approaches we can take to design this problem. The sample solution will provide an object-oriented approach, since it allows us to easily add new types of cards to accommodate new requirements.
Different languages have different tools, but the most basic concept in object oriented programming is inheritance, which is a class deriving from a superclass and inheriting its methods. In this situation, a playing card from the 52 is a card. The reason for this design is that we can easily add other types of cards if we want.
Below is an implementation:
1from enum import Enum, auto
2from typing import List
3
4class Card:
5 @property
6 def card_value(self) -> int:
7 raise NotImplementedError()
8
9 def __lt__(self, other):
10 return self.card_value < other.card_value
11
12class Suit(Enum):
13 CLUBS = auto()
14 DIAMONDS = auto()
15 HEARTS = auto()
16 SPADES = auto()
17
18class PlayingCard(Card):
19 SUITS = {
20 "Clubs": Suit.CLUBS,
21 "Diamonds": Suit.DIAMONDS,
22 "Hearts": Suit.HEARTS,
23 "Spades": Suit.SPADES,
24 }
25 SUIT_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in SUITS.items()}
26 VALUES = {
27 "A": 1,
28 **{str(i): i for i in range(2, 11)},
29 "J": 11,
30 "Q": 12,
31 "K": 13,
32 }
33 VALUE_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in VALUES.items()}
34
35 def __init__(self, suit: str, value: str):
36 super().__init__()
37 self.__suit = self.SUITS[suit]
38 self.__value = self.VALUES[value]
39
40 @property
41 def card_value(self) -> int:
42 return self.__value
43
44 def __str__(self) -> str:
45 value = self.VALUE_NAMES[self.__value]
46 suit = self.SUIT_NAMES[self.__suit]
47 return f"{value} of {suit}"
48
49class Game:
50 def __init__(self) -> None:
51 self.__cards: List[Card] = []
52
53 def add_card(self, suit: str, value: str) -> None:
54 self.__cards.append(PlayingCard(suit, value))
55
56 def card_string(self, card: int) -> str:
57 return str(self.__cards[card])
58
59 def card_beats(self, card_a: int, card_b: int) -> bool:
60 return self.__cards[card_a] > self.__cards[card_b]
61
62if __name__ == "__main__":
63 game = Game()
64 suit, value = input().split()
65 game.add_card(suit, value)
66 print(game.card_string(0))
67 suit, value = input().split()
68 game.add_card(suit, value)
69 print(game.card_string(1))
70 print("true" if game.card_beats(0, 1) else "false")
71
1import java.util.ArrayList;
2import java.util.HashMap;
3import java.util.Map;
4import java.util.Map.Entry;
5import java.util.Scanner;
6import java.util.stream.Collectors;
7
8class Solution {
9 public static abstract class Card implements Comparable<Card> {
10 public abstract int getValue();
11
12 @Override
13 public int compareTo(Card o) {
14 return Integer.compare(getValue(), o.getValue());
15 }
16 }
17
18 public enum Suit {
19 SPADES,
20 HEARTS,
21 DIAMONDS,
22 CLUBS,
23 }
24
25 public static class PlayingCard extends Card {
26 private Suit suit;
27 private int value;
28
29 public static final Map<String, Suit> SUITS = Map.of(
30 "Spades", Suit.SPADES,
31 "Hearts", Suit.HEARTS,
32 "Diamonds", Suit.DIAMONDS,
33 "Clubs", Suit.CLUBS);
34
35 // Inverts the above map to convert back to string.
36 public static final Map<Suit, String> SUIT_NAMES = SUITS.entrySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getValue, Map.Entry::getKey));
37
38 // Map.of is limited to 10 entries, so we initialize a static map instead
39 public static final Map<String, Integer> VALUES = new HashMap<>();
40 static {
41 VALUES.put("A", 1);
42 for (int i = 2; i <= 10; i++) {
43 VALUES.put(String.valueOf(i), i);
44 }
45 VALUES.put("J", 11);
46 VALUES.put("Q", 12);
47 VALUES.put("K", 13);
48 }
49 // Inverts the above map to convert back to string.
50 public static final Map<Integer, String> VALUE_NAMES = VALUES.entrySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getValue, Map.Entry::getKey));
51
52 public PlayingCard(String suit, String value) {
53 this.suit = SUITS.get(suit);
54 this.value = VALUES.get(value);
55 }
56
57 @Override
58 public int getValue() {
59 return value;
60 }
61
62 @Override
63 public String toString() {
64 return String.format("%s of %s", VALUE_NAMES.get(value), SUIT_NAMES.get(suit));
65 }
66 }
67
68 public static class Game {
69 private ArrayList<Card> cards;
70
71 public Game() {
72 cards = new ArrayList<>();
73 }
74
75 public void addCard(String suit, String value) {
76 cards.add(new PlayingCard(suit, value));
77 }
78
79 public String cardString(int card) {
80 return cards.get(card).toString();
81 }
82
83 public boolean cardBeats(int cardA, int cardB) {
84 return cards.get(cardA).compareTo(cards.get(cardB)) > 0;
85 }
86 }
87
88 public static void main(String[] args) {
89 Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
90 Game game = new Game();
91 String[] segs = scanner.nextLine().split(" ");
92 game.addCard(segs[0], segs[1]);
93 System.out.println(game.cardString(0));
94 segs = scanner.nextLine().split(" ");
95 game.addCard(segs[0], segs[1]);
96 System.out.println(game.cardString(1));
97 System.out.println(game.cardBeats(0, 1));
98 scanner.close();
99 }
100}
101
The Game
class stores a list of cards
which takes O(n)
space where n
is the number of cards added.
Each method (add_card
, card_string
, card_beats
) uses O(1)
time and O(1)
space.
Part Two
For this part, we ask you to implement the Jokers into the system.
In addition to the functionalities above, also implement the following functions:
add_joker(color)
: Creates a Joker card withcolor
of eitherRed
orBlack
.- Joker beats everything else except other jokers. This card is represented by
i
, wherei
is an integer indicating how many cards have been created before, including both normal cards and jokers. - A joker's string representation is
Red Joker
orBlack Joker
, depending on the color.
- Joker beats everything else except other jokers. This card is represented by
You may copy the code from the previous question here.
Try it yourself
Solution
We add a Joker
class that inherits the base Card
. For the purpose of this question,
its value is 14
, which is greater than other cards. We do not need to write extra logic
for comparing Jokers with other cards, since that logic is already there under Card
.
Below is the updated implementation:
1from enum import Enum, auto
2
3class Card:
4 @property
5 def card_value(self) -> int:
6 raise NotImplementedError()
7
8 def __lt__(self, other):
9 return self.card_value < other.card_value
10
11class Suit(Enum):
12 CLUBS = auto()
13 DIAMONDS = auto()
14 HEARTS = auto()
15 SPADES = auto()
16
17class PlayingCard(Card):
18 SUITS = {
19 "Clubs": Suit.CLUBS,
20 "Diamonds": Suit.DIAMONDS,
21 "Hearts": Suit.HEARTS,
22 "Spades": Suit.SPADES,
23 }
24 SUIT_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in SUITS.items()}
25 VALUES = {
26 "A": 1,
27 **{str(i): i for i in range(2, 11)},
28 "J": 11,
29 "Q": 12,
30 "K": 13,
31 }
32 VALUE_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in VALUES.items()}
33
34 def __init__(self, suit: str, value: str):
35 super().__init__()
36 self.__suit = self.SUITS[suit]
37 self.__value = self.VALUES[value]
38
39 @property
40 def card_value(self) -> int:
41 return self.__value
42
43 def __str__(self) -> str:
44 value = self.VALUE_NAMES[self.__value]
45 suit = self.SUIT_NAMES[self.__suit]
46 return f"{value} of {suit}"
47
48class JokerColor(Enum):
49 RED = auto()
50 BLACK = auto()
51
52class Joker(Card):
53 COLORS = {
54 "Red": JokerColor.RED,
55 "Black": JokerColor.BLACK,
56 }
57
58 COLOR_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in COLORS.items()}
59
60 def __init__(self, color: str):
61 super().__init__()
62 self.__color = self.COLORS[color]
63
64 @property
65 def card_value(self):
66 return 14
67
68 def __str__(self) -> str:
69 return f"{self.COLOR_NAMES[self.__color]} Joker"
70
71class Game:
72 def __init__(self):
73 self.__cards: list[Card] = []
74
75 def add_card(self, suit: str, value: str) -> None:
76 self.__cards.append(PlayingCard(suit, value))
77
78 def card_string(self, card: int) -> str:
79 return str(self.__cards[card])
80
81 def card_beats(self, card_a: int, card_b: int) -> bool:
82 return self.__cards[card_a] > self.__cards[card_b]
83
84 def add_joker(self, color: str) -> None:
85 self.__cards.append(Joker(color))
86
87if __name__ == "__main__":
88 game = Game()
89 suit, value = input().split()
90 game.add_joker(value) if suit == "Joker" else game.add_card(suit, value)
91 print(game.card_string(0))
92 suit, value = input().split()
93 game.add_joker(value) if suit == "Joker" else game.add_card(suit, value)
94 print(game.card_string(1))
95 print("true" if game.card_beats(0, 1) else "false")
96
1import java.util.ArrayList;
2import java.util.HashMap;
3import java.util.Map;
4import java.util.Map.Entry;
5import java.util.Scanner;
6import java.util.stream.Collectors;
7
8class Solution {
9 public static abstract class Card implements Comparable<Card> {
10 public abstract int getValue();
11
12 @Override
13 public int compareTo(Card o) {
14 return Integer.compare(getValue(), o.getValue());
15 }
16 }
17
18 public enum Suit {
19 SPADES,
20 HEARTS,
21 DIAMONDS,
22 CLUBS,
23 }
24
25 public static class PlayingCard extends Card {
26 private Suit suit;
27 private int value;
28
29 public static final Map<String, Suit> SUITS = Map.of(
30 "Spades", Suit.SPADES,
31 "Hearts", Suit.HEARTS,
32 "Diamonds", Suit.DIAMONDS,
33 "Clubs", Suit.CLUBS);
34
35 // Inverts the above map to convert back to string.
36 public static final Map<Suit, String> SUIT_NAMES = SUITS.entrySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getValue, Map.Entry::getKey));
37
38 // Map.of is limited to 10 entries, so we initialize a static map instead
39 public static final Map<String, Integer> VALUES = new HashMap<>();
40 static {
41 VALUES.put("A", 1);
42 for (int i = 2; i <= 10; i++) {
43 VALUES.put(String.valueOf(i), i);
44 }
45 VALUES.put("J", 11);
46 VALUES.put("Q", 12);
47 VALUES.put("K", 13);
48 }
49 // Inverts the above map to convert back to string.
50 public static final Map<Integer, String> VALUE_NAMES = VALUES.entrySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getValue, Map.Entry::getKey));
51
52 public PlayingCard(String suit, String value) {
53 this.suit = SUITS.get(suit);
54 this.value = VALUES.get(value);
55 }
56
57 @Override
58 public int getValue() {
59 return value;
60 }
61
62 @Override
63 public String toString() {
64 return String.format("%s of %s", VALUE_NAMES.get(value), SUIT_NAMES.get(suit));
65 }
66 }
67
68 public enum JokerColor {
69 RED,
70 BLACK,
71 }
72
73 public static class Joker extends Card {
74 private JokerColor color;
75
76 public static final Map<String, JokerColor> COLORS = Map.of(
77 "Red", JokerColor.RED,
78 "Black", JokerColor.BLACK);
79
80 // Inverts the above map to convert back to string.
81 public static final Map<JokerColor, String> COLOR_NAMES = COLORS.entrySet().stream().collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getValue, Map.Entry::getKey));
82
83 public Joker(String color) {
84 this.color = COLORS.get(color);
85 }
86
87 @Override
88 public int getValue() {
89 return 14;
90 }
91
92 @Override
93 public String toString() {
94 return String.format("%s Joker", COLOR_NAMES.get(color));
95 }
96 }
97
98 public static class Game {
99 private ArrayList<Card> cards;
100
101 public Game() {
102 cards = new ArrayList<>();
103 }
104
105 public void addCard(String suit, String value) {
106 cards.add(new PlayingCard(suit, value));
107 }
108
109 public String cardString(int card) {
110 return cards.get(card).toString();
111 }
112
113 public boolean cardBeats(int cardA, int cardB) {
114 return cards.get(cardA).compareTo(cards.get(cardB)) > 0;
115 }
116
117 public void addJoker(String color) {
118 cards.add(new Joker(color));
119 }
120 }
121
122 public static void main(String[] args) {
123 Scanner scanner = new Scanner(System.in);
124 Game game = new Game();
125 String[] segs = scanner.nextLine().split(" ");
126 if (segs[0].equals("Joker"))
127 game.addJoker(segs[1]);
128 else
129 game.addCard(segs[0], segs[1]);
130 System.out.println(game.cardString(0));
131 segs = scanner.nextLine().split(" ");
132 if (segs[0].equals("Joker"))
133 game.addJoker(segs[1]);
134 else
135 game.addCard(segs[0], segs[1]);
136 System.out.println(game.cardString(1));
137 System.out.println(game.cardBeats(0, 1));
138 scanner.close();
139 }
140}
141
The method add_joker
uses O(1)
time and O(1)
space.
Part Three
This game also involve a concept of a Hand
and comparing the size of the two hands.
For this part, add these following functions to the Game
class:
add_hand(card_indices)
: Create a newHand
with cards represented by the list of integer representation of cardscard_indices
. The hand can be represented byi
, wherei
is the number of hands added before.hand_string(hand)
: Return the string representation of the hand represented byhand
. It is a list of string representation of cards by their insertion order, separated by", "
. For example, ifhand
has a 9 of Clubs, K of Hearts, and a Black Joker, the string representation is"9 of Clubs, K of Hearts, Black Joker"
.beats_hand(hand_a, hand_b)
: Check if the hand represented byhand_a
beats the hand represented byhand_b
according to the following rules:- Starting from the largest card in each hand, compare them. If a card beats another, that hand beats the other hand. Otherwise, compare the next largest card.
- Repeat this process until one hand beats the other, or one hand runs out of cards. If a hand runs out of cards, neither hand beat each other.
Try it yourself
Solution
For this part, we implement the Hand
class by having it contain a list of cards. When we
compare two hands, because we defined a comparison function between two cards, we can
sort them using the default sorting algorithm.
Below is the implementation:
1from enum import Enum, auto
2from typing import List
3
4class Card:
5 @property
6 def card_value(self) -> int:
7 raise NotImplementedError()
8
9 def __lt__(self, other):
10 return self.card_value < other.card_value
11
12class Suit(Enum):
13 CLUBS = auto()
14 DIAMONDS = auto()
15 HEARTS = auto()
16 SPADES = auto()
17
18class PlayingCard(Card):
19 SUITS = {
20 "Clubs": Suit.CLUBS,
21 "Diamonds": Suit.DIAMONDS,
22 "Hearts": Suit.HEARTS,
23 "Spades": Suit.SPADES,
24 }
25 SUIT_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in SUITS.items()}
26 VALUES = {
27 "A": 1,
28 **{str(i): i for i in range(2, 11)},
29 "J": 11,
30 "Q": 12,
31 "K": 13,
32 }
33 VALUE_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in VALUES.items()}
34
35 def __init__(self, suit: str, value: str) -> None:
36 super().__init__()
37 self.__suit = self.SUITS[suit]
38 self.__value = self.VALUES[value]
39
40 @property
41 def card_value(self) -> int:
42 return self.__value
43
44 def __str__(self) -> str:
45 value = self.VALUE_NAMES[self.__value]
46 suit = self.SUIT_NAMES[self.__suit]
47 return f"{value} of {suit}"
48
49class JokerColor(Enum):
50 RED = auto()
51 BLACK = auto()
52
53class Joker(Card):
54 COLORS = {
55 "Red": JokerColor.RED,
56 "Black": JokerColor.BLACK,
57 }
58
59 COLOR_NAMES = {e: n for n, e in COLORS.items()}
60
61 def __init__(self, color: str) -> None:
62 super().__init__()
63 self.__color = self.COLORS[color]
64
65 @property
66 def card_value(self) -> int:
67 return 14
68
69 def __str__(self