How challenges are graded

The graded contract

Every challenge in this course gives you a starter file and grades specific public members of Solution. Early on that's static methods and a static void program() whose printed output is captured and checked:

public class Solution
{
    public static void program()
    {
        Console.WriteLine("exactly this");
    }
}

A hidden test runs your method, captures everything it prints, and compares. Output is compared exactly — punctuation, capitalization, spacing. "Print the sum" means the number, not The sum is: 7, unless the task says so. Precision here is practice for real logs, APIs, and file formats.

Reading a verdict

Each test reports:

• pass — your code did exactly what the test asked.
• fail with a message — read the message: it says what was expected vs what happened (expected 7, got 10).
• compile error — your code never ran; fix the compiler output first.

Three debugging habits to build now:

1. Read the message before changing code. Guess-editing burns attempts.
2. Reproduce mentally: trace the failing case by hand.
3. Change one thing at a time — otherwise you can't know what helped.

What "done" means here

A challenge passes when all hidden tests pass. Tests include the edges the prompt calls out — empty input, zero, negatives. Passing the happy case is the start of the work, not the end.

The next lesson-by-lesson practice is deliberate: imitate (copy the pattern), then modify, then build from a blank file. That progression is how syntax becomes skill.