tetris

Our attempt to implement Tetris in C++

Short internal_clock description:

The internal clock class consists of:

• Some clock attributes (start and tick rate, here called interval)
• A std::thread object: A thread is created and the clock "runs" inside of it. It is simply a combination of std::this_thread::sleep_for
• Some printing, get and set functions.

How it was intended to use:

1. Instantiate the clock and initialize an interval:
   • internal_clock my_clock(std::chrono::milliseconds(200));
   • Upon creation, the constructor will set the interval and private attributes (which includes creating an uninitialized std::thread)
2. Start the clock with run() method:
   • my_clock.run();
   • This will initialize the std::thread object and make the private variable internal_clock::is_interval_elapsed fire according to the set interval. You may check it with:
   • my_clock.get_is_elapsed();

Quick discussion:

As of now, the game engine will have to regularly check the clock and may also use a sleep function, such as std::this_thread::sleep_for, which misses the point of creating an independent clock. A possible (currently under consideration) solution is using a <condition_variable> or <mutex>. Although condition variables could indeed solve this problem, they cannot target specific threads. This might not cause any problem in this implementation, but, IMHO this is not a good pratice/solution. <mutex> option was not yet thoroughly studied.

There are still some issues regarding expected behavior x actual implementation of some methods, but they will be addressed as the project evolves.

Tetriminos