AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A

2015 GENERAL SCORING GUIDELINES

Apply the question assessment rubric first, which always takes precedence. Penalty points can only be
deducted in a part of the question that has earned credit via the question rubric. No part of a question
(a, b, c) may have a negative point total. A given penalty can be assessed only once for a question, even
if it occurs multiple times, or in multiple parts of that question. A maximum of 3 penalty points may be
assessed per question.

1-Point Penalty
(v) Array/collection access confusion ([] get)
(w) Extraneous code that causes side effect (e.g., writing to output, failure to compile)
(x) Local variables used but none declared
(y) Destruction of persistent data (e.g., changing value referenced by parameter)
(z) Void method or constructor that returns a value

No Penalty
o Extraneous code with no side effect (e.g., precondition check, no-op)
o Spelling/case discrepancies where there is no ambiguity*
o Local variable not declared provided other variables are declared in some part
o private or public qualifier on a local variable
o Missing public qualifier on class or constructor header
o Keyword used as an identifier
o Common mathematical symbols used for operators (× • ÷ < > <> ≠)
o [] vs. () vs. <>
o = instead of == and vice versa
o length/size confusion for array, String, List, or ArrayList, with or without ( )
o Extraneous [] when referencing entire array
o [i,j] instead of [i][j]
o Extraneous size in array declaration (e.g., int[size] nums = new int[size];)
o Missing ; where structure clearly conveys intent
o Missing { } where indentation clearly conveys intent
o Missing ( ) on parameter-less method or constructor invocations
o Missing ( ) around if or while conditions

*Spelling and case discrepancies for identifiers fall under the “No Penalty” category only if the correction can
be unam biguousl y inferred from context; for example, “ArayList” instead of “ArrayList”. As a
counterexample, note that if the code declares “Bug bug;”, then uses “Bug.move()” instead
of “bug.move()”, the context does not allow for the reader to assume the object instead of the class.

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2015 SCORING GUIDELINES

Question 2: Guessing Game

Class: HiddenWord 9 points

Intent: Define implementation of class to represent hidden word in guessing game

+1 Uses correct class, constructor, and method headers

+1 Declares appropriate private instance variable

+1 Initializes instance variable within constructor using parameter

+6 Implement getHint

+1 Accesses all letters in both guess and hidden word in loop

(no bounds errors in either)

+4 Process letters within loop

+1 Extracts and compares corresponding single letters from guess and

hidden word

+1 Tests whether guess letter occurs in same position in both guess and
hidden word

+1 Tests whether guess letter occurs in hidden word but not in same position
as in guess

+1 Adds correct character exactly once to the hint string based on the
test result

+1 Declares, initializes, and returns constructed hint string

Question-Specific Penalties
-1 (t) Uses get to access letters from strings

-2 (u) Consistently uses incorrect name instead of instance variable name for hidden word

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2015 CANONICAL SOLUTIONS

Question 2: Guessing Game

public class HiddenWord

{
private String word;

public HiddenWord(String hWord)

{
word = hWord;
}

public String getHint(String guess){

String hint = "";
for (int i = 0; i < guess.length(); i++){
if (guess.substring(i,i+1).equals(word.substring(i,i+1))){
hint += guess.substring(i,i+1);
} else if (word.indexOf(guess.substring(i,i+1))!= -1){
hint += "+";
} else {
hint += "*";
}
}
return hint;
}

These canonical solutions serve an expository role, depicting general approaches to solution. Each reflects only one instance from the
infinite set of valid solutions. The solutions are presented in a coding style chosen to enhance readability and facilitate understanding.

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 ©2015 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 ©2015 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 ©2015 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 ©2015 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2015 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 2

Overview

This question focused on class design and the String class. Students had to demonstrate an
understanding of class, constructor, and method header syntax. Students were required to understand the
importance of declaring instance variables private and initializing instance variables in a constructor.
Students were also required to demonstrate an understanding of String methods.

Students were asked to write a class that represents a hidden word and includes a method to return a hint for
a given guess. To create the hint string, students had to traverse the hidden word and the guess by
comparing each letter, one by one, and adding a character to the resulting hint string. The character was the
letter if the guess letter and the hidden word letter matched and were in the same position. The character
was a "+" if the guess letter and the hidden word letter matched and were in different positions. The
character was a "*" if the guess letter and the hidden word letter did not match. The resulting hint string
was then returned.

Sample: 2A
Score: 8

The student correctly creates the class and constructor headers and the getHint method header, which
earned the first point. The instance variable was initialized using the constructor’s parameter, but it was not
declared private, so the third point was earned, but not the second point.

The student writes a correct getHint method, initializing a hint string and accessing all the letters in both
the guess and the hidden word in a correctly bounded loop. Within the loop, single letters from the guess and
the hidden word are extracted and compared correctly. A single letter is appended to the hint string if the
characters from the guess and the hidden word match and are in the same position. A single "+" is
appended to the hint string if the characters from the guess and the hidden word match but are not in the
same position. A single "*" is appended to the hint string if the letter from the guess does not match any
letter from the hidden word. The correctly constructed hint string is returned, and the student earned all 6
points for the getHint method.

Sample: 2B
Score: 6

The student correctly creates the class and constructor headers and the getHint method header, which
earned the first point. The instance variable is initialized using the constructor’s parameter, but it is not
declared private, so the third point was earned, but not the second point.

For the getHint method, the student writes a good loop but uses “substring(x, x)” instead of
“substring(x, x+1),” so the “access all letters” point is not earned. Within the loop, single letters from
the guess and the hidden word are extracted and compared correctly and the “corresponding letters” point is
earned. A single letter is appended to the hint string if the characters from the guess and the hidden word
match and are in the same position, so the “test in same position” point is earned. The test for matching
single letters in different positions compares a single letter from the guess to the entire hidden word string,
so the “test not in same position” point is not earned. A single "*" is appended to the hint string if the
letter from the guess does not match any letter from the hidden word. The hint string was initialized,
constructed, and returned. The student earned 4 points for the getHint method.

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2015 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 2 (continued)

Sample: 2C
Score: 2

The student correctly creates the class header but there is no constructor and there is an incorrect return
type on the getHint method, so the first point is not earned. The instance variable is declared private,
but it is not initialized so the second point is earned, but not the third point.

For the getHint method, the student writes a good loop header so the “access all letters” point was
earned. The point for “corresponding letters” was not earned due to the use of “substring(a)” instead of
“substring(a, a+1).” The student used the primitive test “==” rather than the object test
“.equals”, so the “test in same position” point was not earned. The test for matching letters in different
positions was incorrect, and the attempt to add single characters to the hint string used assignments made
to substring calls, so the “test not in same position” and “add correct character” points were not earned. The
hint string was not properly initialized, so the final point is not earned. The student earned 1 point for the
getHint method.

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