AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A

2012 GENERAL SCORING GUIDELINES

Apply the question-specific 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-specific rubric. No part of a question — (a), (b), or (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 different parts of that
question.

1-Point Penalty
(w) Extraneous code that causes a side effect or prevents earning points in the rubric
(e.g., information written to output)
(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 that causes no side effect
o Extraneous code that is unreachable and would not have earned points in rubric
o Spelling/case discrepancies where there is no ambiguity*
o Local variable not declared, provided that other variables are declared in some part
o private qualifier on local variable
o Missing public qualifier on class or constructor header
o Keyword used as an identifier
o Common mathematical symbols used for operators (x • ÷ < > < > ≠)
o [] vs. () vs. <>
o = instead of == (and vice versa)
o Array/collection element access confusion ([] vs. get for r-values)
o Array/collection element modification confusion ([] vs. set for l-values)
o length/size confusion for array, String, and 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 ; provided that line breaks and indentation clearly convey intent
o Missing { } where indentation clearly conveys intent and { } are used elsewhere
o Missing ( ) on parameter-less method or constructor invocations
o Missing ( ) around if/while conditions
o Use of local variable outside declared scope (must be within same method body)
o Failure to cast object retrieved from nongeneric collection

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

© 2012 The College Board.

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2012 SCORING GUIDELINES

Question 3: Horse Barn

Part (a) findHorseSpace 4 points

Intent: Return index of space containing horse with specified name

+1 Accesses all entries in spaces (no bounds errors)

+1 Checks for null reference in array and avoids dereferencing it (in context of loop)

+1 Checks for name equality between array element and parameter

(must use String equality check)

+1 Returns correct index, if present; -1 point if not

Part (b) consolidate 5 points

Intent: Repopulate spaces such that the order of all non-null entries is preserved and all
null entries are found contiguously at the largest indices

+1 Accesses all entries in spaces (no bounds errors)

+1 Identifies and provides different treatment of null and non-null elements in array

+1 Assigns element in array to a smaller index

(must have identified source as non-null or destination as null)

+1 On exit: The number, integrity, and order of all identified non-null elements in spaces
is preserved, and the number of null elements is preserved

+1 On exit: All non-null elements in spaces are in contiguous locations, beginning at

index 0 (no destruction of data)

Question-Specific Penalties
-1 (z) Attempts to return a value from consolidate

-2 (v) Consistently uses incorrect array name instead of spaces

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2012 CANONICAL SOLUTIONS

Question 3: Horse Barn

Part (a):
public int findHorseSpace(String name) {
for (int i = 0; i < this.spaces.length; i++) {
if (this.spaces[i]!=null && name.equals(this.spaces[i].getName())) {
return i;
}
}
return -1;
}

Part (b):
public void consolidate() {
for (int i = 0; i < this.spaces.length-1; i++) {
if (this.spaces[i] == null) {
for (int j = i+1; j < this.spaces.length; j++) {
if (this.spaces[j] != null) {
this.spaces[i] = this.spaces[j];
this.spaces[j] = null;
j = this.spaces.length;
}
}
}
}
}

Part (b): Alternative solution (auxiliary with array)

public void consolidate() {
Horse[] newSpaces = new Horse[this.spaces.length];
int nextSpot = 0;
for (Horse nextHorse : this.spaces) {
if (nextHorse != null) {
newSpaces[nextSpot] = nextHorse;
nextSpot++;
}
}
this.spaces = newSpaces;
}

Part (b): Alternative solution (auxiliary with ArrayList)

public void consolidate() {
List<Horse> horseList = new ArrayList<Horse>();
for (Horse h : this.spaces) {
if (h != null) horseList.add(h);
}
for (int i = 0; i < this.spaces.length; i++) {
this.spaces[i] = null;
}
for (int i = 0; i < horseList.size(); i++) {
this.spaces[i] = horseList.get(i);
}
}

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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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2013 SCORING GUIDELINES

Question 2: TokenPass

Part (a) TokenPass constructor 4 points

Intent: Create TokenPass object and correctly initialize game state

+1 Creates instance variable board as int array of size playerCount

+1 Computes a random number between 1 and 10, inclusive, and

a random number between 0 and playerCount-1, inclusive

+1 Initializes all entries in board with computed random value (no bounds errors)

+1 Initializes instance variable currentPlayer to computed random value

Part (b) distributeCurrentPlayerTokens 5 points

Intent: Distribute all tokens from currentPlayer position to subsequent positions in array

+1 Uses initial value of board[currentPlayer] to control distribution of tokens

+1 Increases at least one board entry in the context of a loop

+1 Starts distribution of tokens at correct board entry

+1 Distributes next token (if any remain) to position 0 after distributing to

highest position in board

+1 On exit: token count at each position in board is correct

Question-Specific Penalties
-2 (v) Consistently uses incorrect array name instead of board

-1 (y) Destruction of persistent data (currentPlayer)

-1 (z) Attempts to return a value from distributeCurrentPlayerTokens

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2013 CANONICAL SOLUTIONS

Question 2: TokenPass

Part (a):
public TokenPass(int playerCount)
{
board = new int[playerCount];
for (int i = 0; i < playerCount; i++){
board[i] = 1 + (int) (10 * Math.random());
}
currentPlayer = (int) (playerCount * Math.random());
}

Part (b):
public void distributeCurrentPlayerTokens()
{
int nextPlayer = currentPlayer;
int numToDistribute = board[currentPlayer];
board[currentPlayer] = 0;

while (numToDistribute > 0){

nextPlayer = (nextPlayer + 1) % board.length;
board[nextPlayer]++;
numToDistribute--;
}
}

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.

© 2013 The College Board.

Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.