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Subject: Re: Programming Questions

Author: Scott Gasch

Date: 12:29:24 02/03/02

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On February 03, 2002 at 13:07:09, David Rasmussen wrote:

>On February 03, 2002 at 12:49:42, Casey Camp wrote:
>
>>I need information on the programming part of a chess program, but I need help
>>on the interface instead of the actual engine.  I need to set up the board so
>>that the pieces are movable (and I suppose to let them use bitmaps or
>>gifs...etc...) but I am programming in Visual C++.  Any help or websites would
>>be greatly appreciated.
>>Thanks,
>>Casey Camp
>>ccamp@students.berry.edu
>
>I would advise you to use winboard/xboard as the interface, instead of
>developing your own. Then you can use your energy on the important part, the
>engine. I think many people when starting out get the idea that they want to
>make an interface first. This often tricks you so that you never get started on
>the actual engine. And basic interfacing with winboard isn't hard. For some of
>the more tricky things such as pondering and analyzing, you will need to do some
>extra work, but nothing that you wouldn't have to do if you made your own
>interface. And when you're "done", you will have an engine that automatically
>can play matches against other programs, can interface with chess servers etc.
>for free.
>

You don't understand -- I bet Casey has a programming assignment in his OOP
class to write a chess interface.

I've never written an interface, just an engine.  But if I was going to do it I
think OOP would be a nice method.  There are definate objects and a heirarchy.
A piece base class and rooks/knights/kings etc... subclasses.  A board full of
squares that can contain pieces.  The board has a Draw method... which it
implements by calling the Draw method on each square... which may involve a call
to the Draw method of a piece in it.  This is my inexperienced GUI programmer's
2 cents worth.  Good luck with your project.

Scott



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