Assignment 3 - Information Literacy

Putting your information literacy skills to the test.

Objectives

  • Write effective Internet search queries and use official documentation to research answers.
  • Examine and compare information from various sources to evaluate its accuracy, authority, currency, and relevance.
  • Properly cite and apply the researched information to help solve software engineering problems.

Overview

Software engineers constantly use the Internet to learn how to achieve functionality and to help debug errors.

You will find plenty of wrong or misleading answers on the Internet. Who has time for that? You need to be able to discern between good sources from time wasters.

Instructions

Download and complete assignment_3.docx. Complete it with a partner in class and submit to Canvas.

Code for Task 1

Run the following Python code. You will get an error and stack trace:

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def calculate_cart_total(cart_items, tax_rate):
    """Calculate total cart cost including tax."""
    subtotal = sum(item["price"] * item["quantity"] for item in cart_items)
    return subtotal + (subtotal * tax_rate)

def display_cart_summary(cart_items, tax_rate):
    """Display a summary of the cart."""
    total_cost = calculate_cart_total(cart_items, tax_rate)
    print(f"Total cost (including tax): ${total_cost:.2f}")

def main():
    """Main function to simulate a shopping cart."""
    cart = [
        {"name": "Laptop", "price": 1000.0, "quantity": 1.0},
        {"name": "Headphones", "price": 200.0, "quantity": 2.0},
        {"name": "Mouse", "price": 50.0, "quantity": 1.0},
        {"name": "Keyboard", "price": 150.0, "quantity": 1.0},
        {"name": "Monitor", "price": 300.0, "quantity": 1.0},
        {"name": "HDMI Cable", "price": 10.0, "quantity": 2.0},
        {"name": "USB Drive", "price": "20.0", "quantity": 3.0},
        {"name": "External Hard Drive", "price": 100.0, "quantity": 1.0},
    ]
    tax_rate = 0.07  # 7% sales tax
    display_cart_summary(cart, tax_rate)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Submission due Friday Feb 28 @ 11:59pm via Canvas

Upload your completed assignment_3.docx to the Canvas assignment page.

Last modified February 24, 2025.