Challenge Groups

A ChallengeGroup is a named collection of programming challenges within a language. Groups correspond to a package or directory of source files and appear as sections on the language page (e.g., "Warmup-1", "String-2").

Creating Groups

Groups are created inside a language block using the group() function:

val javaIncludeFiles =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    java {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"
        description = "Simple warmup problems"

        // Include all Java files from the warmup1 package
        includeFiles = "*.java"
      }
    }
  }

Including Files

Java: `includeFiles`

For Java challenges, use includeFiles with a glob pattern. The return type is inferred from the Java source code:

val javaIncludeFiles =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    java {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"
        description = "Simple warmup problems"

        // Include all Java files from the warmup1 package
        includeFiles = "*.java"
      }
    }
  }

Python: `includeFilesWithType`

Python challenges require the includeFilesWithType property with the returns infix function:

val pythonIncludeFiles =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    python {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"
        description = "Simple Python warmup problems"

        // Python requires an explicit return type
        includeFilesWithType = "*.py" returns BooleanType
      }
    }
  }

Kotlin: `includeFilesWithType`

Kotlin follows the same pattern as Python:

val kotlinIncludeFiles =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    kotlin {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"
        description = "Simple Kotlin warmup problems"

        // Kotlin also requires an explicit return type
        includeFilesWithType = "*.kt" returns StringType
      }
    }
  }

Multiple Include Patterns

You can use multiple includeFilesWithType assignments to include files with different return types in the same group:

val multipleIncludePatterns =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    python {
      group("Mixed-1") {
        packageName = "mixed1"
        description = "Problems with different return types"

        // Multiple includeFilesWithType lines for different patterns
        includeFilesWithType = "bool_*.py" returns BooleanType
        includeFilesWithType = "int_*.py" returns IntType
        includeFilesWithType = "str_*.py" returns StringType
      }
    }
  }

Individual Challenges

Instead of (or in addition to) bulk file inclusion, you can add challenges one at a time:

val individualChallenges =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    java {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"

        // Add challenges one at a time
        challenge("SleepIn")
        challenge("MonkeyTrouble")
        challenge("SumDouble")
      }
    }

    python {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"

        // Python challenges need a return type
        challenge("sleep_in") { returnType = BooleanType }
        challenge("monkey_trouble") { returnType = BooleanType }
        challenge("sum_double") { returnType = IntType }
      }
    }

    kotlin {
      group("Warmup-1") {
        packageName = "warmup1"

        // Kotlin challenges also need a return type
        challenge("sleepIn") { returnType = BooleanType }
        challenge("monkeyTrouble") { returnType = BooleanType }
        challenge("sumDouble") { returnType = IntType }
      }
    }
  }

Descriptions

Both groups and individual challenges support Markdown descriptions:

val challengeWithDescription =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    java {
      group("String-1") {
        packageName = "string1"
        description = "Basic **string** problems using `charAt()` and `substring()`"

        challenge("HelloName") {
          description = "Return a greeting with the given name"
          codingBatEquiv = "p141943"
        }
        challenge("MakeAbba") {
          description = "Combine two strings in *abba* pattern"
          codingBatEquiv = "p161056"
        }
      }
    }
  }

Source code descriptions

Challenges can also derive descriptions from special @desc comments in their source files. A // @desc Return true when... comment at the top of a Java file will be used as the description unless one is explicitly set in the DSL.

Group Properties

Property	Type	Default	Description
`packageName`	`String`	`""`	Package path for locating source files
`description`	`String`	`""`	Markdown description shown at the top of the group page
`includeFiles`	`String`	--	Glob pattern for Java file inclusion
`includeFilesWithType`	`PatternReturnType`	--	Pattern + return type for Python/Kotlin

Multiple Return Types in One Group

A single group can contain challenges with different return types when added individually:

val multipleReturnTypes =
  readingBatContent {
    repo = FileSystemSource("./")

    kotlin {
      group("Mixed-Types") {
        packageName = "mixed"

        challenge("isEven") { returnType = BooleanType }
        challenge("doubleIt") { returnType = IntType }
        challenge("greeting") { returnType = StringType }
        challenge("reverseArray") { returnType = IntArrayType }
        challenge("splitWords") { returnType = StringArrayType }
      }
    }
  }