CodeBot

CodeBot is a chatbot that helps beginners learn how to code. To make the otherwise daunting task of learning how to code for the first time easier, CodeBot incorporates witty replies, GIFs & human-readable errors to create an incredibly fun experience for a complete novice. Currently, it goes through a few basic exercises in Python (adapted from Codecademy) while answering any questions on the way. The back-end runs on Node.js, MongoDB & api.ai while the front-end is written in vanilla HTML, CSS & JavaScript. The initial prototype for CodeBot was built during the Facebook Singapore Hackathon 2016.

Team

1. Suyash Lakhotia
2. Nikhil Venkatesh
3. Chaitanya Joshi
4. Bobby Ranjan

Setup

Prerequisites

• Install Node.js & npm
  • Update npm using $ npm install npm -g
• Install MongoDB
• Install RoboMongo (Optional)

Homebrew Commands (for Mac)

$ brew install node              # Install Node.js
$ brew install mongodb           # Install MongoDB
$ brew cask install robomongo    # Install RoboMongo (Optional)
$ brew services start mongodb    # Start MongoDB

Running CodeBot

1. Clone this repo or download the .zip here.
2. Navigate to this repo on your terminal and run $ npm install to install all the dependencies.
3. Start MongoDB using the instructions here.
4. Initialize the database using $ node dbCreator.js.
5. Create a directory — /userScripts — and an empty file named test.py inside to process the user's submitted Python scripts.
6. Run CodeBot on http://localhost:3000/ using $ node index.js.

$ npm install
$ brew services start mongodb    # Start MongoDB (via Homebrew)
$ node dbCreator.js
$ mkdir userScripts && cd userScripts && touch test.py && cd ..
$ node index.js

Source Code

| - modules
|   | - codeChecker.js       // Checks User Submitted Python Code
|   | - levenshtein.js       // Word Distance Calculator (dependency of codeChecker.js)
|   | - messageHandler.js    // Handles User Messages over Chat
|   | - pythonDict.js        // Dictionary of Python Keywords (dependency of codeChecker.js)
| - node_modules             // Node.js Dependencies (see package.json)
| - public                   // Front-End Files (served at '/')
|   | - assets               // Images, GIFs, etc.
|   | - css                  // CSS Stylesheets
|   |   | - main.css
|   | - js                   // Client-Side Scripts
|   |   | - main.js
|   | - favicon.ico          // Favicon
| - userScripts              // User Submitted Python Code
|   | - test.py
| - dbCreator.js             // Initializes Database
| - index.html               // Client-Side Chat Interface
| - index.js                 // Node.js Entry Point

See contributing guidelines here.

TODO

• All Python Errors → Human-Readable Errors
• Refine Curriculum / Database Content
• Improve Existing Bot Replies
• Add More Variation in Bot Replies
• Make Bot Instructions for Exercises Friendlier
• Improve In-line Code Styling for Instructions & Example Code
• Clean Up codeChecker.js
• Clean Up Front-End Code
• Post-Hackathon Cleanup of Code & Git History
• Add Setup Instructions to README
• Remove Hardcoding in nextExercise()
• Split index.js into Separate Files
• Redo Database Structure