AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A

2014 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.

1-Point Penalty
(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 (x  ~ ~ <> *)
o [] vs. () vs. <>
o = instead of == and vice versa
o Array/collection access confusion [] get
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 ; provided majority are present and indentation clearly conveys 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 or while conditions

* Spelling and case discrepancies for identifiers fall under the "No Penalty" category only if the correction
can be un ambi guously 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.

© 2014 The College Board.

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2014 SCORING GUIDELINES

Question 4: Trio

l ciass: Trio 9 points

Intent: Define implementation of MenuItem interface that consists of sandwich, salad, and drink

+1 public class Trio implements MenuItem

+1 Declares appropriate private instance variables

+2 Implements constructor

+1 public Trio(Sandwich sandwich, Salad salad, Drink drink)

+1 Initializes appropriate instance variables using parameters

+1 Implements interface methods

(public String getName(){ } public double getPrice(){ . . . } )

+1 Constructs correct name string and makes available for return in getName

+1 Returns constructed name string in getName

+1 Computes correct price and makes available for return in getPrice

+1 Returns computed price in getPrice

lauestion-Specific Penalties
-0 Missing or extra spaces in name string, "trio"

-1 (w) Extraneous default constructor that causes side effect

© 2014 The College Board.

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 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2014 CANONICAL SOLUTIONS

Question 4: Trio

public class Trio implements MenuItem {

private Sandwich sandwich;
private Salad salad;
private Drink drink;

public Trio(Sandwich s, Salad sal, Drink d){

sandwich = s;
salad = sal;
drink = d;
}

public String getName(){

return sandwich.getName() + "/" + salad.getName() + "/" +
drink.getName() + " Trio";
}

public double getPrice(){

double sandwichPrice = sandwich.getPrice();
double saladPrice = salad.getPrice();
double drinkPrice = drink.getPrice();
if (sandwichPrice <= saladPrice && sandwichPrice <= drinkPrice)
return saladPrice + drinkPrice;
else if (saladPrice <= sandwichPrice && saladPrice <= drinkPrice)
return sandwichPrice + drinkPrice;
else
return sandwichPrice + saladPrice;
}
}

Alternate

public class Trio implements MenuItem {

private String name;
private double price;

public Trio(Sandwich s, Salad sal, Drink d){

double sandwichPrice = s.getPrice();
double saladPrice = sal.getPrice();
double drinkPrice = d.getPrice();
if (sandwichPrice <= saladPrice && sandwichPrice <= drinkPrice)
price = saladPrice + drinkPrice;
else if (saladPrice <= sandwichPrice && saladPrice <= drinkPrice)
price = sandwichPrice + drinkPrice;
else
price = sandwichPrice + saladPrice;
name = s.getName()+ "/" + sal.getName()+ "/" + d.getName()+ " Trio";
}
 public String getName(){
return name;
}

public double getPrice(){

return price;
}
}
 ©2014 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 ©2014 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 ©2014 The College Board.
Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.
 AP® COMPUTER SCIENCE A
2014 SCORING COMMENTARY

Question 4

Overview

This question evaluated the ability of a student to read an interface and then define a class that
implements that interface. As part of the implementation students would define a constructor with a
specified order of parameters to instantiate a Trio object. Students were also required to include code to
construct a String object from the supplied parameters of the component MenuItem objects within
the Trio. This string was composed of the result of calling getName() on each MenuItem object in
turn separated by “/” and ending with the String “trio”. The resulting string was to be returned in the
interface method getName. Students were also to compute the price of the Trio by identifying the
lowest price of the three component items and excluding that amount from the total price of the Trio to
be returned in the interface method getPrice.

Sample: 4A
Score: 8

The student correctly creates the class header of Trio implementing the interface MenuItem. The
instance variables for a sandwich, salad and drink were declared as private. The student implements the
constructor to create a Trio with the parameters in the correct order. The instance variables were
initialized using the parameters from the constructor. The student implements the two interface methods
with code in the body of the methods. The name of the Trio was not constructed correctly leaving off the
required string “Trio” at the end of the concatenation of the sandwich, salad and drink names. The
getName method returned the constructed string using the instance variables. The price is computed
correctly and was returned in the method getPrice. The response earned 8 points.

Sample: 4B
Score: 6

The student correctly creates the class header of Trio implementing the interface MenuItem. The
instance variables for a sandwich, salad and drink were declared without private; therefore, the point for
the declaration of variables was not earned. The student implements the constructor to create a Trio with
the parameters in the correct order. The instance variables were initialized using the parameters from the
constructor. The student implements the two interface methods with code in the body of the methods. The
name of the Trio was not constructed correctly leaving off the required string “Trio” at the end of the
concatenated sandwich, salad and drink names. The price is not computed correctly so the calculation
point was not earned. The student did compute a price using the sandwich, salad, drink and it was
returned in the method getPrice. The response earned 6 points.

Sample: 4C
Score: 2

The student correctly creates the class header of Trio implementing the interface MenuItem. The
instance variables were not declared. The student declaration of the constructor is correct. There were no
instance variables to initialize. The student does not implement the two interface methods. The student
writes an additional public method with parameters that could provide incorrect names for the Trio, losing
the “constructs correct name string” point. Although the constructed name was available, it was not
returned in a getName method. The student writes an additional public method with parameters that
could provide an incorrect price for the Trio object earning no point for “computes correct price.” The
student solution did not return the computed price in getPrice. The response earned 2 points.

© 2014 The College Board.

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