FizzBuzz Solution

Shown above are two solutions to the FizzBuzz problem. The first one is a generic solution that did exactly what it needed to do and took me approximately 4 minutes to do. Below is my final solution where I modified the code to make it much more organized and reduce the margin for error if I were to expand on this code. The modification was fairly simple since all the required code already existed and only took me an extra two minutes or so to do.

I have been using Eclipse for a few years now so I am fairly comfortable using it. I did not run into any problems with Eclipse or Java itself so the entire process went very smoothly. From writing this solution, I can expect this class to help me in my software development skills by improving my programming practices as shown by the code modification that we had discussed during class.

Does "Loop Maker" Satisfy The Three Prime Directives?

Music has been around for centuries. Today, the most popular songs are those with the best beats and a catchy rhythm. Loop Maker is an application that allows you to create the backbone of any song, the beat. The application lets you import WAV files and create your own beats for writing your own music. Loop Maker takes almost no configuration to install and get up and running and because it is written in Java, it can be used over multiple platforms.

Prime Directive 1: The system successfully accomplishes a useful task.

Loop Maker accomplishes exactly what it was designed to do. It allows the user to create custom beats from WAV files by looping pieces of the sound file or even the whole thing. The application also allows users to combine the sound files so that the final result is not a few minutes of repetition. The only big flaw I ran into while using the application was how specific the file type had to be. The application requests a 44100Hz-16bit-stereo WAV file. While it does not seem like a big problem, it was quickly realized that not all WAV files are set up in this manner and the user may not be able to use the file they want to.

Prime Directive 2: An external user can successfully install and use the system.

Loop Maker comes as an executable file that is ready to run. On Windows, it was as simple as running the executable files, which runs a JAR file. All the user had to do was specify the directory to save the files to. The instructions to use the application were built into the user interface, but were slightly vague and took a few minutes to figure out. However, once figured out, the application is fairly simple to use. I used a few WAV files from my own collection and created my own beat fairly easily. The user interface was very easy to navigate and all the buttons and input fields were clearly labeled.

Prime Directive 3: An external developer can successfully understand and enhance the system.

The source code has a fair amount of comments, but at times, some were far too general and required a bit of time deciphering code to figure out the functionality. Another downfall is that there was no developer documentation that I could find. Another developer would simply have to simply attack it with their own knowledge.

Source Code

http://loopmaker.sourceforge.net/

Download Application

http://sourceforge.net/projects/loopmaker/