CS110 Introduction to Computing
Fall 2006

Lab Assignment#7

Problem: Write a program that queries the babyname databases for the usage/popularity of particular names. Your program should input lines from files in the following format:

rank Male_name Male_number Female_name Female_number

where,

rank -- The ranking of the names on this line
Male_name -- A male name of this rank
Male_number -- Number of males with this name
Female_name -- A female name of this rank
Female_number -- Number of females of this rank

This is the format of database files obtained from the U.S. Social Secutiry Administration of the top 1000 registered baby names. Each line begins with the rank, followed by the male name at that rank, followed by the number of males with that name, etc. Here is an example file containing data from the year 2002:

1 Jacob 30122 Emily 24262
2 Michael 28119 Madison 21546
3 Joshua 25859 Hannah 18559
4 Matthew 24831 Emma 16324
5 Ethan 21949 Alexis 15411
6 Joseph 21766 Ashley 15217
7 Andrew 21696 Abigail 15155
8 Christopher 21676 Sarah 14564
9 Daniel 21186 Samantha 14540
10 Nicholas 21148 Olivia 14481
...
996 Edgardo 158 Jazmyne 222
997 Garett 158 Libby 222
998 Gerard 158 Nyasia 222
999 Ryley 158 Kari 221
1000 Braulio 157 Keeley 221

As you can see from the above, in 2002, there were 30,122 male babies named Jacob and 24,262 babies named Emily, making them the most popular names used in that year. Similarly, going down the list, we see that there were 221 newborn females named, Kari, making it the 999th most popular name.

Provided are 15 data files (which you can download from here), names1900, names1910, ... names2000 contain 10-year data, i.e. names1900 has the top 1000 names from 1900-1909. The files names2000, names 2001, names2002, names2003 and names2004 contain data for just 1 year.

Your program should ask for a name of interest from the user as graphical text entry, and then plot the usage frequency of that particular name in a barchart for year 1900-2004. If a name can not be found in a particular file, use 0.

Getting Started

As in the last assignment, remember that your main program should be short and abstract. Most of the details for solving the problem should be divided up into functions. Build up your solution incrementally, add and test one function at a time. There is a detailed example on drawing a bar chart in sections 5.5 and 5.6 of your textbook, you might want to go over it again. Remember that setting a coordinate system can make your life a lot easier.

Your program should meet the following requirements:

• You will need to have the following graphical components: the text entry box, a button for the user to press once the text is entered and the bar chart itself. How to organize these components are entirely up to you. You might want to consider using two windows, with the bar chart being drawn in its own window.
• The user should be able to repeatedly enter names and have a new bar chart drawn for each one
• Name usages are plotted vertically, that is, the height of each bar needs to correspond proportionally to the usage frequency of the name in question.
• Years are plotted horizontally, however you do not need to plot the years proportionally. That is, even though names1900 contains data for 10 years, it can have the same width as names2004.
• Label your chart well.

What you will need to do:

1. Make sure you have read all of chapter 8 and understand the examples and library functions presented there.
2. Do the design first: plan out a complete sketch prior to writing your program.
3. Split your program into functions and make an incremental implementation plan.
4. Make sure you do the above steps prior to entering the lab (or using your computer).
5. Test and debug your program until it produces correct results.
6. When done, print out the final version your your program and also a printout showing your program's sample outputs for at least two names. If your name is present in the files, definitely make that one of your sample runs!
7. Make a blog posting saying that you have completed the assignment and also write up any logistical or other issues/questions raised while working on this assignment. Also write about your level of confidence on the concepts learned so far.
8. ALL work in this course should be done individually without any help from any person other than the class TA's and instructor(s).

Notes:

Add the following line to all your Python programs:

# File: <place name of your program file here>

# Date: <date created>

# Created by: <your name>

# Assignment: <place assignment number here>