Leaves - Samantha & Julia

[iamsammysam]

slack.rb

Congratulations! You're submitting your assignment!

You and your partner should collaborate on the answers to these questions.

Comprehension Questions

Question	Answer
How did you go about exploring the Slack API? Did you learn anything that would be useful for your next project involving an API?	We started with the Slack API documentation (which we found unusually helpful, with good examples of queries and output). Classmates also helped us explore the API's functionality. We got more comfortable working with APIs and feel more confident about interacting with them in the future.
Give a short summary of the request/response cycle. Where does your program fit into that scheme?	Cycle summary: a client sends a message to a server, the server processes the request, then the server sends the response to the client. Our program is primarily in the client role, using HTTParty to send requests to the API server, which then responds with the requested information. An exception is the "send message" functionality, where our program briefly steps into the server role when it provides message text for the API to send to the Slack workspace.
How does your program check for and handle errors when using the Slack API?	In addition to raising an error if the API returns a status other than 200, we created a custom error class (API_Error) that gets raised if someone tries to implement a child class method in the parent class. In retrospect, this error could have been given a more descriptive name (maybe "ParentClassError"?) and it probably would have been helpful to also have another custom error that told users when there is a problem with the API (as opposed to an error within the program) but unfortunately we didn't get that far.
Did you need to make any changes to the design work we did in class? If so, what were they?	One change we made was combining the workspace methods select_channel and select_user into a single method. Since both methods took the same parameter (slack_id), this was an easy update and made our code a tiny bit DRYer (baby steps!).
Did you use any of the inheritance idioms we've talked about in class? How?	We are still getting our heads around inheritance idioms, but we think updating our select method so that it works on both users and channels is an application of polymorphism. Also, the Recipient class methods self.list and details are template methods that are designed to be implemented in a child class.
How does VCR aid in testing a program that uses an API?	VCR allows a program's interactions with the API server to be "recorded" so that repeated tests are interacting with a "tape" of the server responses instead of the live server. This is helpful because most tests will be quicker and cheaper if they don't need to be sent to the live server every time they are run.

[dHelmgren]

slack.rb

What We're Looking For

Feature	Feedback
Core Requirements
Git hygiene (no slack tokens)	good
Comprehension questions	good
Functionality
List users/channels	good
Select user/channel	yes
Show details	yes
Send message	yes
Program runs without crashing	yes
Implementation
API errors are handled appropriately	yes
Inheritance model matches in-class activity	yes
Inheritance idioms (abstract class, template methods, polymorphism) used appropriately	yes
Methods are used to break work down into simpler tasks	yes
Class and instance methods are used appropriately	yes
Tests written for User functionality	yes
Tests written for Channel Functionality	yes
Tests written for sending a message	yes
Overall	Great work overall! This really demonstrates that you met the learning goals! Keep up the hard work!

[dHelmgren]

The quit options should probably not print this message!

[dHelmgren]

I'd do this slightly differently.

Suggested change

	until user_input == "quit"
	tracking_int = 1
	until tracking_int == 0
	case quit
	tracking_int = 0
	end

[dHelmgren]

I'd maybe make it a bool, and give it a better name, but this way you address the quit case separately.

[dHelmgren]

Yeah!

[dHelmgren]

nice move implementing this here!