BlackJack 21 Swing

An academic project developed in 2023 during the first semester of the first year for the Modelação e Programação (MOP) course at ISEL (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa).

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Table of Contents

1. About The Project
   • Built With
   • Features & Key Highlights
2. Lessons Learned
3. Getting Started
   • Prerequisites
   • Installation & Running Locally
4. Usage
5. Contact
6. Acknowledgments

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About The Project

vidDemoBJ21.mp4

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This repository contains **BlackJack 21 Swing**, an academic project developed in 2023 during the first semester of the first year for the *Modelação e Programação (MOP)* course at **ISEL (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa)**. Students were given complete creative freedom to build any application within a complexity threshold required by the professor. Built entirely from scratch without starter code or base templates, the primary goal was to consolidate the Object-Oriented Programming fundamentals learned in the course by creating a desktop card game with a custom graphical interface and XML data persistence. It applies core software engineering concepts such as encapsulation, class inheritance, and user event handling in Java.

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Built With

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Features & Key Highlights

• Classic Blackjack Rules: Full implementation of standard casino rules, including automatic ace value adjustments between 1 and 11 to prevent bust hands.
• Desktop Graphical Interface: Custom Java Swing windows featuring card graphics, interactive betting modals, and game rule overlays.
• XML Balance Persistence: Player wallet balance is automatically loaded and saved across game sessions using XML files validated by a custom DTD schema.
• Game History Tracking: Game outcomes and match results are logged into an XML history document that players can inspect at any time.

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Lessons Learned

• Object-Oriented Programming: Practiced class inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism when structuring game entities like players, dealers, and cards.
• Desktop GUI Development: Learned how to design responsive Java Swing interfaces, organize layout managers, and connect interactive event listeners.
• XML Parsing and Validation: Gained hands-on experience reading and writing structured XML files using Java DOM parsers and validating them with DTD schemas.
• Asynchronous UI Processing: Implemented SwingWorker tasks to animate card dealing smoothly without freezing the main interface window.

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Getting Started

Follow these instructions to set up a local copy of the project on your machine.

Prerequisites

• Java Development Kit (JDK): JDK 8 or higher (e.g., Oracle JDK, OpenJDK, Amazon Corretto, or Eclipse Temurin)
• IDE or Command Line: An IDE such as IntelliJ IDEA / Eclipse, or a standard command line terminal

Installation & Running Locally

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/GuilhermeGraca/java-blackjack21-swing.git

2. Navigate to the project root directory:

   cd java-blackjack21-swing

3. Compile the Java source files:

   javac -d BlackJack21Java/out BlackJack21Java/src/tp4/*.java

4. Run the graphical application:

   java -cp BlackJack21Java/out tp4.BlackJackGUI

Note on Card Images: Run the command from the project root directory java-blackjack21-swing so the application can automatically load the card images from the cartasPNG/ folder. If using IntelliJ IDEA, ensure your Run Configuration Working Directory is set to the project root.

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Usage

• Start a Match: Click the JOGAR button on the top navigation bar to open the betting window.
• Place Your Wager: Select your bet amount to deal the initial round of cards.
• Hit or Stand: Choose whether to draw another card from the deck or keep your current hand against the dealer.
• Review Rules and History: Click Regras to read the game instructions or Resultados to inspect past match outcomes.

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Contact

Guilherme Graça

• LinkedIn: guilherme-graça
• GitHub: @GuilhermeGraca
• Project Link: https://github.com/GuilhermeGraca/java-blackjack21-swing

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Acknowledgments

• ISEL — Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa: For institutional support and academic environment.
• Modelação e Programação (MOP) Course: For the technical foundation that supported the development of this project.

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