420: Computer Science Research
================================

Independent research in Software Construction Methods under Dr. Keith Gallagher.

Topics
------

- Clean-room software development methodology
- Rapid prototyping and iterative development
- Formal methods and correctness proofs
- Survey and critique of industry development practices

Projects
--------

Triangle Classifier (``420/tri/``)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A clean-room development exercise producing a triangle classification program. Given three
side lengths, the program validates input, determines if a valid triangle can be formed, and
classifies it as equilateral, isosceles, or scalene. The project was developed iteratively
under Dr. Gallagher's clean-room methodology, with separate modules for input validation
(``prelim_check.c``), triangle testing (``is_triangle.c``), and type classification.

.. code-block:: c

   void is_triangle(unsigned long a, unsigned long b, unsigned long c) {
     if ((a + b) > c && (a + c) > b && (b + c) > a) {
       if (a == b && b == c)
         printf("%lu %lu %lu: equilateral\n", a, b, c);
       else if (a == b || b == c || a == c)
         printf("%lu %lu %lu: isosceles\n", a, b, c);
       else
         printf("%lu %lu %lu: scalene\n", a, b, c);
     } else {
       printf("%lu %lu %lu: not a triangle\n", a, b, c);
     }
   }

Knockout Tournament (``420/ko/ko.c``)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A rapid-prototype exercise implementing a knockout (single-elimination) tournament scheduler.
Demonstrates how clean-room and prototyping methodologies differ in practice by tracking
multiple development iterations.

.. code-block:: c

   /* Prototype entry point — functionality stubbed for first iteration */
   int main(void) {
       do_something();
       return 0;
   }

Notes
-----

This course produced a written survey comparing clean-room and rapid-prototyping methodologies,
evaluating their applicability to real-world software projects.