This tutorial introduces participants to using Web-CAT, an open-source automated grading system. Web-CAT is customizable and extensible, allowing it to support a wide variety of programming languages and assessment strategies. Web-CAT is most well-known as the system that “grades students on how well they test their own code,” with experimental evidence that it offers greater learning benefits than more traditional output-comparison grading. Participants will learn how to set up and configure assignments, manage multiple sections, and allow graders to manually grade for design.

Presentation: Automatically Grading Programming Assignments with Web-CAT (PDF, 6 pp.)

Download a single zip file containing all of the following examples, or view examples individually in your web browser.

The examples shown in the tutorial:

• Example 1: DvrRecording:

  • DvrRecording.java
  • DvrRecordingTest.java

• Example 2: Calculator

  • Calculator.java
  • CalculatorReferenceTest.java

• Example 3: HelloWorld: Testing main programs, stdi/o, etc.

  • HelloWorld1.java
  • HelloWorld1Test.java
  • HelloWorld2.java
  • HelloWorld2Test.java
  • HelloWorld3.java
  • HelloWorld3Test.java
  • RandomNumbers.java
  • RandomNumbersTest.java

• Example 4: PushCounter: Testing Swing GUI applications using LIFT.

  • PushCounter.java
  • PushCounterTest.java
  • PushCounterPanel.java
  • PushCounterPanelTest.java

• roster.csv: The simple course roster used as an example.

• checkstyle-None.xml and pmd-None.xml: The configuration files used to disable (turn off) Checkstyle and/or PMD static analysis checks.

• loose-checkstyle.xml: An alternative Checkstyle rule configuration that is more forgiving than the default.

• webcat-eclipse-submitter-1.4.3.zip: The Web-CAT submission plug-in for Eclipse.

• student.jar: JUnit support library used by Web-CAT and many universities, including student.TestCase, student.GUITestCase, LIFT, and more.

• Source code for student.jar and LIFT is open-source, available from the Web-CAT project on SourceForge.

• JUnit.org has more information on how to use JUnit.

• Documentation for the asserts in JUnit: http://www.junit.org/apidocs/org/junit/Assert.html

• Testing GUI Programs is a Prezi presentation that gives a good introduction to LIFT and how it is used.

• The LIFT website provides more details on LIFT, including links to two sigcse papers, downloads, examples, and discussion forums.

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