Tic-Tac-Toe game in Java using 2-D Array and ArrayList

Main.java

A Java-based tic-tac-toe game that runs on the command line interface. The game utilizes 2D arrays and ArrayLists to implement the game logic and provide an enjoyable gaming experience.

Introduction

This is an implementation of the classic game "Tic Tac Toe" in Java. It creates a game board as a 2-D array of characters and allows the player to enter their placement, followed by the computer's placement, on the board using a while loop that continues until a winner is declared or the board is filled. The program uses a series of conditions to check if there is a winner, using lists to represent the possible winning combinations. If a winner is declared, the program breaks out of the while loop and prints the result.

Imports

The code starts by importing the java.util.* package, which includes several utility classes such as Scanner and Random. It then defines two static ArrayLists, playerPositions and cpuPositions, which keep track of the positions chosen by the player and the computer, respectively.

Game Loop & Board Design

The main function creates the game board and prints it using the printGameBoard method. It then enters a while loop that runs until a winner is declared or the board is filled. Inside the loop, the player is prompted to enter their placement using a Scanner, and their choice is checked against the playerPositions and cpuPositions ArrayLists to make sure they have not already chosen that position. If the position is valid, the program uses the placePiece method to update the game board and add the position to the playerPositions ArrayList. It then checks if there is a winner using the checkWinner method and prints the result if necessary.

Next, the program generates a random cpuPosition using the Random class, and checks it against the playerPositions and cpuPositions ArrayLists to ensure it has not already been chosen. The placePiece method is then called again to update the game board and add the position to the cpuPositions ArrayList. The printGameBoard method is called again to print the updated board, and the program checks if there is a winner using the checkWinner method and prints the result if necessary.

Print Game Board Method

The printGameBoard method is a simple nested for loop that iterates over the 2-D game board array and prints each character symbol in each row.

Place Piece Method

The placePiece method takes the game board, position, and user as arguments. It uses a switch statement to update the game board based on the position chosen by the player or the computer. It also adds the position to the appropriate ArrayList (playerPositions for the player and cpuPositions for the computer).

Check Winner Method

The checkWinner method checks if the playerPositions or cpuPositions ArrayList contains any of the possible winning combinations stored in List objects. If one of the combinations is found in playerPositions, the program returns "Congratulations You Won!". If one of the combinations is found in cpuPositions, the program returns "CPU Wins! Sorry :( ". If there are no winning combinations and the board is filled, the program returns "Tie Game!".