CLD Prep ATM Practice Test Critique

[DanRen_IQA]

Hello all,

This is my first shot at a CLD practice exam. Any (friendly!) feedback would be appreciated. I know there are a couple of functional problems, but most of it works. I would do several things differently, in hindsight, but this is what I got at 4 hours.

Thanks.

Dan

[Gregory]

Could you save for 2014 or earlier?

[DanRen_IQA]

By all means.

Thanks

Dan

[Gregory]

I did not try the ATM example when I prepared for the CLD (nor have I received my score from the test over a month ago yet!) so take my comments with a grain of salt.

Good:

• The general state machine architecture seems applicable to the problem (more on that later)
• The 10 second timeout functionality seems to work in the cases that I tested, which is probably one of the harder points to hit
• The state enum is typedef'd
• The front panel has tip strips

Bad:

• Some controls had default icon and no description. The main VI had no description
• Too many while loops. The deposit and withdraw do not need the while loop. You should go back to the "Idle" state so you can wait for a button press. Then get rid of the extra loop around the event structure.
• Too many Value property nodes. Going back to the "Idle" state would help you eliminate these.
• The Deposit and Withdraw functionality was not working.
• Not enough comments. Every case/event should have a comment in it.
• Overall too messy looking. I know time is a huge constraint on this test, but just right clicking "clean up wire" would have made many of them look nicer.

Overall, I think that some of what I saw as mistakes will be handled by doing a couple more tests and getting your speed up. You may want to try to go back and remove those extra while loops now and get the Deposit and Withdraw functionality working.

[DanRen_IQA]

Thank you for the feedback. I will definitely try to implement your suggestions in my second attempt at the ATM. I've also taken a look at the solution, and will borrow a few ideas from it as well. How do you feel this attempt would rate on NI's 70% to pass scale?

Thanks again,

Dan

[Gregory]

I have not actually seen one of their grading reports yet, so I cannot say!

[JÞB]

---

@DanRen_IQA wrote:

Thank you for the feedback. I will definitely try to implement your suggestions in my second attempt at the ATM. I've also taken a look at the solution, and will borrow a few ideas from it as well. How do you feel this attempt would rate on NI's 70% to pass scale?

Thanks again,

Dan

---

Run it through VIA and see what it says.