As you can see in Figure 1, by dragging the different pieces you can create a Class Diagram of a design pattern.

Figure 1: Class diagram dragged into place

The little gray splotches are drag handles I added. Also, the fat lines are for the same reason—they’re easier to drag. Grab anything with an arrow by the arrowhead, and it’s easy to drag. Here are some tips:

1. Make a lot of little classes. Two each for every element you create. One will be an extension of the Creator and the other of the Product. (You may work out another way, and that’s fine as long as you use the Creator and Product classes.) Take a look at the original article for added help.

2. Use input text fields so that you can flexibly add the necessary labels as you can see in the example (click the Play button to see them). Whatever way you use the text fields, it helps to add some kind of handle.

3. Organize from your Client carefully. You can end up with a very long script in the Client class.

4. Have fun! Winning entries and honorable mentions add points to the Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup!

The contest will run until October 20, 2009. Send in Entries to wdsanders@comcast.net in a .zip file. (My Mac balks at other archive files.)

Barbara Parkman, USA
Barbara’s entry added a Movement interface and implemented a movement class for each of the characters. In this way, each character had his/her own movement.

Contest #5: Our next contest (#5) is a good one for both Flash and Flex (FD) developers. Contestants first download the Dragon Factory files, and then create draggable objects that can be used to create class diagrams for any of the GoF class diagrams. That means you’ll need the proper set of relationship lines (e.g., ones for subclassing, aggregates, associations, etc.) and either input text fields for the different names of the design participants or make a huge number of graphic names. All elements must extend or implement the existing classes/interfaces in the ‘Dragon Factory’ files. All entries are due, October 20, 2009. This one is both fun and useful. (I’ll be putting up a sample of what the final product looks like to encourage entries.)

Click Here to see contest standings:

The current standings are based on a point system: Grand Prize-4 points; First Prize-3 points; Second Prize-2 points; Third Prize-1 point. Honorable Mention-0.5 points.

Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup Standings

Country	Points	Current Ranking
Finland	10	1
USA	7	2
UK	4	3
Brazil	4	3

1
2
3
4
5
6

       public class Warrior extends Sprite
	{
		protected var fire:Fire;
		//protected var movement:Movement;
		//protected var comm:Communicate;
	}

For this contest, all you have to do is to create the necessary interfaces and classes only for Movement (we’re saving the Communicate until later) so that the Warrior instances will retain their current weapons behavior but include the Movement behavior as well. The movement algorithms must come from a separate interface and concrete movement implementations (just like Fire did).

You can use the “warrior” movie clips used in the original or make your own. (I cut the size of the movie clip graphics in half so that they’d have more room for movement.) Here are the rules:

The Rules

1. You must build on the existing Fire and Warrior design in Part II of the Wrong Way Warrior
2. All entries must use ActionScript 3.0
3. Either Flash or Flex formats are acceptable
4. All output must be visible on the screen.
5. You can have any kind of user interface for movement that you want.
6. All entries must be in by September 20, 2009
7. All entries must be placed in a ZIP file. (Nothing fancy for my Mac)
8. Send entries to wdsanders@comcast.net with the subject line Golden Lunch Bucket Contest #4
9. Include your name, age, where you’re from, and a 100 x 100 jpeg/png photo

Remember, all of the points for this contest go toward the Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup.

We’re hoping to expand the number of entries, and so the next contest will have the basic design pattern laid out, and the entries will simply have to extend it. That will be out next week.

The current standings are based on a point system: Grand Prize-4 points; First Prize-3 points; Second Prize-2 points; Third Prize-1 point. Honorable Mention-0.5 points.

Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup Standings

Country	Points	Current Ranking
Finland	10	1
UK	4	2
Brazil	4	2
USA	3	3

Also, we’d like to see entries from countries that we know have excellent ActionScript 3.0 programmers such as:

• India – China – Japan
• Czech Republic – Russian Federation – Ukraine
• Germany – France – Italy- The Netherlands – Spain
• Canada – Mexico
• Peru – Chile – Argentina
• Turkey
• South Africa – Ghana
• Australia

Anyway, this is all for having a bit of fun and seeing how to do things with Design Patterns in ActionScript 3.0—so all you can do is win!

Timo Hannelin, Finland
Timo again placed his winning entry inside of an MVC framework, but since the Mediator did what it was supposed to do, it met contest’s criteria for setting up a Mediator that had a concrete component. Congratulations Timo!

Get ready for the next contest coming up next week!

Golden Lunch Bucket World Cup Standings

Country	Points	Current Ranking
Finland	6	1
UK	4	2
Brazil	4	2
USA	3	3

The tally will use the following values:

• Grand Prize—4 points
• First Prize—3 points
• Second Prize—2 points
• Third Prize—1 points
• Honorable Mention—.5 points

In case of ties, we’ll have run-off contests until only one winner emerges. By having simpler contests, we can shorten the time between contests and have more contests and thereby (we hope) more participation. All entries and contests will only be for ActionScript 3.0 and either Flash or Flex. (Sorry, Java, C#, PHP and C++ folks.)

We’ve got plenty of lead-time, and so if you have any comments, feel free to share your thoughts with us. If you’re interested in participating, the Golden Lunch Bucket Contest #3 has just begun!

Define an object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact. Mediator promotes loose coupling by keeping object from referring to each other explicitly, and it lets you vary their interaction independently. pg. 273

That should give you plenty of ideas.

Remember, the purpose of the Golden Lunch Bucket contests and Lunch Bucket posts are to encourage developers to use design patterns at work. (Put a Design Pattern into your lunch bucket and take it to work.). The more you play around with these structures, the easier it becomes to use them. Besides, more and more shops are requesting knowledge of Design Patterns for their applicants. In the last look at one online technology job site, ActionScript 3.0 and Design Patterns were mentioned in 45 positions!

The Rules

1. You must use a Mediator Design Pattern
2. Your specific project must be your own work but feel free to borrow ideas from practical applications of other Mediator projects
3. All entries must use ActionScript 3.0
4. Either Flash or Flex formats are acceptable
5. You cannot use trace() statements for the output, but all output must be visible on the screen.
6. You must specify what your mediator accomplishes.
7. All entries must be in by August 20, 2009
8. All entries must be placed in a ZIP file. (Nothing fancy for my Mac)
9. Send entries to wdsanders@comcast.net with the subject line Golden Lunch Bucket Contest #3
10. Include your name, age, where you’re from, and a 100 x 100 jpeg/png photo

This is a simple contest because you have all of the basic structures of the Mediator and an example in ActionScript 3.0—you’ve got until August 20! And don’t forget, all winning and honorable mention entries go into the World Cup Golden Lunch Bucket rankings.

If you’re feeling lucky, then enter the contest. Who knows? You might just win, and then you can go nuts! We know, you’ll have to put up with the paparazzi and the inevitable groupies, but that’s just the cost of fame. (Our former winners will give you advice on how to handle it all.) Just remember Dirty Harry’s advice:

You gotta ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

What is it?

In more than one post by design pattern enthusiasts, I’ve seen warnings against Design Pattern Fever with dire warnings about using design patterns for petty projects. Well, I don’t agree! From our survey, we found that while most would like to include good OOP and design patterns in their projects at work, most good programmers are under so much pressure to get the job done that they don’t have time for design patterns. So instead of kick-starting your design pattern work with a big project, start small with a Hello World! project.

The goal is to use a design pattern (any one you want except the Singleton) to output “Hello world!” in eight (8) different languages. In our last contest, we had winners from all over the world, and so having more than one language seems appropriate. (You get bonus points if one of the languages is Icelandic, Yoruba or Navaho.) The contest is from when you read this post until July 15, 2009. So get cracking and get lucky!

The Rules

1. You must use a Design Pattern from the original Gang of Four’s book
2. All entries must use ActionScript 3.0
3. Either Flash or Flex formats are acceptable
4. You may not use a Singleton design pattern (They’re pathological liars—that’s why.)
5. The screen output must show “Hello World” in eight (8) languages—either separately or all together. You cannot use trace() statements for the output, but all output must be visible on the screen.
6. You must specify which design pattern(s) you are using.
7. Extra points are given for Icelandic, Yoruba and Navaho
8. All entries must be in by July 15, 2009
9. All entries must be placed in a ZIP file. (Nothing fancy for my Mac)
10. Send entries to wdsanders@comcast.net with the subject line Golden Lunch Bucket Contest #2
11. Include your name, age, where you’re from, and a 100 x 100 jpeg/png photo

Remember, you can use any design pattern you want with the exception of the Singleton (shudder). This is a simple contest, and there’s no pressure—you’ve got until July 15! So grab that can of Red Bull and hop to it!

Okay, here’s a chance for Fame and Fortune. (We’ll supply the former; you supply the latter.) On Monday, April 27 you’ll find a new ActionScript 3.0 Easy and Practical Decorator Lunch Bucket Pattern on this blog. The contest will begin on Monday, April 27 and end Friday May, 22–2009. (That’s not a lot of time! But it should not take a lot of time to make the changes.) You can download the Decorator files here .

The contest is to see if you can change the Decorator design pattern in the new post, ActionScript 3.0 Easy and Practical Decorator Design Pattern.
Using the provided Component class (no changes allowed) and the provided Decorator class (no changes allowed) add new or changed Concrete Components and/or Concrete Decorators to make the most interesting program using the Decorator Design Pattern.

We have four age categories, and each category will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes. The Grand Prize will be given to the very best entry, regardless of age. Here are the categories:

• Under 18
• 18-25
• 26-40
• Over 40

All winners will be displayed on this blog along with their entries and photos. Read on to learn the rules.

The Rules

1. You cannot change the code in the Component Class
2. You cannot change the code in the Decorator Class
3. You can only request concrete decorators or components from the Client class
4. You cannot change the interfaces or signatures in the concrete decorator or component classes
5. You cannot add bitmapped graphics or load external bitmapped or SWF files.
6. You can add UI components to the Client class only and only for making requests for concrete decorators or components.
7. All entries must be compacted in .zip format
8. Either Adobe Flex Builder or Flash may be used—if it’s all code you could use Note Pad or TextEdit I suppose.
9. All ActionScript must be version 3.0

If any of the rules are broken, the entry will be disqualified.

All inquiries about the Contest must be made to the Comments Section of this blog entry. The reason is that if one person has a query, there’s usually a dozen more with the same question, and it saves time to respond to a single query than many. (No email inquires will be answered).

All entries must have the following:

Name
Age
Subject Line in email: Golden Lunch Bucket Contest
Attached .zip file with your entry

Email entries to: Bill Sanders: wdsanders@comcast.net

No entries will be accepted after May 22, 2009