To implement a Concept Exercise, the following files must be created:

| └── after.md (optional)

This file contains an introduction to the concept. It should make the exercise's learning goals explicit and provide a short introduction with enough detail for the student to complete the exercise. The aim is to give the student just enough context to figure out the solution themselves, as research has shown that self-discovery is the most effective learning experience. Using the proper technical terms in the descriptions will be helpful if the student wants to search for more information. If the exercise introduces new syntax, an example of the syntax should always be included; students should not need to search the web for examples of syntax.

As an example, the introduction to a "strings" exercise might describe a string as just a "Sequence of Unicode characters" or a "series of bytes". Unless the student needs to understand more nuanced details in order to solve the exercise, this type of brief explanation (along with an example of its syntax) should be sufficient information for the student to solve the exercise.

This file contains instructions for the exercise. It should explicitly explain what the student needs to do (define a method with the signature `public String X(String s)` that takes an A and returns a Z), and provide at least one example usage of that function. If there are multiple tasks within the exercise, it should provide an example of each.

If the student gets stuck, we will allow them to click a button requesting a hint, which shows this file. This will not be a "recommended" path and we will (softly) discourage them using it unless they can't progress without it. As such, it's worth considering that the student reading it will be a little confused/overwhelmed and maybe frustrated.

The file should contain both general and task-specific "hints". These hints should be enough to unblock almost any student. They might link to the docs of the functions that need to be used.

The hints should not spell out the solution, but instead point to a resource describing the solution (e.g. linking to documentation for the function to use).

Once the student completes the exercise they will be shown this file, which should provide them with a summary of what the exercise aimed to teach. This document can also link to any additional resources that might be interesting to the student in the context of the exercise.

An entry should be added to the track's `config.json` file for the new Concept Exercise:

{

...

"exercises": {

"concept": [

...

{

"slug": "<slug>",

"uuid": "<uuid>",

"concepts": ["<concept-1>"],

"prerequisites": ["<prerequisite-1>", "<prerequisite-2>"]

}

]

}

}

Some exercises could benefit from having an exercise-specific [analyzer][analyzer]. If so, specify what analysis rules should be applied to this exercise and why.

Skip this step if you're not sure what to do.

Skip this step if you're not sure what to do.

This file contains information on the exercise's design, which includes things like its goal, its teaching goals, what not to teach, and more. This information can be extracted from the exercise's corresponding GitHub issue.

When implementing an exercise, it can be very useful to look at the exercises the track has already implemented. You can also check the exercise's [general concepts documents][reference] to see if other languages that have already an exercise for that Concept.