QLI - Quiz Line Interface

A command-line quiz application written in Go that reads questions from CSV files and challenges users against a timer.

Features

• CSV-based Questions: Load quiz questions from CSV files
• Timed Quizzes: Set custom time limits for completing the quiz
• Question Shuffling: Randomize question order for variety
• Clean Interface: Simple, intuitive command-line interface
• Score Tracking: Displays final score upon completion
• Flexible Answer Matching: Case-insensitive with whitespace normalization

Requirements

• Go 1.23.0 or higher

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Nostromos/qli.git

2. Navigate to the repo:

cd quiz

3. Build the application:

go build -o quiz quiz.go

Or run directly without building:

go run quiz.go

Usage

Basic Usage

Run the quiz with default settings (30-second timer, questions.csv file):

./quiz

Command-Line Options

./quiz [options]

Flag	Description	Default
-csv	Path to CSV file containing questions	./questions.csv
-limit	Time limit for the quiz (e.g., 30s, 1m, 1h)	30s
-shuffle	Shuffle questions randomly	false

Examples

# Use a custom questions file
./quiz -csv=myquestions.csv

# Set a 1-minute time limit
./quiz -limit=1m

# Shuffle questions for variety
./quiz -shuffle

# Combine all options
./quiz -csv=advanced.csv -limit=2m -shuffle

CSV File Format

Questions must be in a CSV file with exactly 2 columns:

• Column 1: Question text
• Column 2: Answer

Example CSV:

5+5,10
What is the capital of France?,paris
What year was Go released?,2009

Note: The CSV parser properly handles questions containing commas.

How It Works

1. Start: Press Enter to begin the quiz and start the timer
2. Questions: Each question is displayed one at a time
3. Answers: Type your answer and press Enter to continue
4. Timer: The quiz ends when time runs out or all questions are answered
5. Score: Final score is displayed as "X out of Y questions correct"

Answer Matching

Answers are matched with the following rules:

• Case-insensitive (e.g., "Paris" matches "paris")
• Leading/trailing whitespace is ignored
• Exact match required after normalization

Development

Running Tests

go test

Project Structure

quiz/
├── quiz.go          # Main application code
├── quiz_test.go     # Test suite
├── questions.csv    # Default questions file
├── go.mod          # Go module file
└── README.md       # This file

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is part of the Gophercises exercise series by Jon Calhoun.

Acknowledgments

• Built as part of the Gophercises learning series
• Focuses on teaching Go fundamentals including:
  • File I/O
  • CSV parsing
  • Command-line flags
  • Concurrency with goroutines and channels
  • Timer management
  • Testing practices