Assessment 3 – Forex Converter
Goals
In this unit, you’ll:
Have your first assessment of Section II
Learn how to use Markdown
Projects & Exercises
The assessment has three parts
In the first part, you’ll be asked a series of conceptual questions
In the second part, you’ll build a currency converter in Flask and Python
In the third part, you’ll write some tests to make sure it works
Please Note: the forex-module originally used on this assessment is experiencing technical issues. We are currently using a clone of the API hosted at exchangerate.host for this assessment, which means it will work slightly differently. Temporary instructions have been added to the project instructions for using this cloned API.
0/2
1
Foreign Exchange Converter
The dynamics between currencies are fascinating. Currency trading may not be as popular as trading stocks, but people do make a living off of it. If you don’t trade currency, but you plan on leaving the country, you’ve got to know the value of their currency relative to yours.
In this assessment, you’re going to build a currency converter that will tell you the value of one currency in a second specified currency. There will also be a conceptual section to this assessment and a portion where you test your converter at the end.
2
Introduction to Markdown
In this assessment, you’re going to build a currency converter which will tell you the value of one currency in a second specified currency. There will also be a conceptual section to this assessment. In order to complete this section, you’ll need to download a Markdown editor and write your answers there. You’ll find instructions to get you up to speed with Markdown below. The final portion of the assessment, you’ll test your converter.
www.markdowntutorial.com/
www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/
3
Install Markdown
To write Markdown, you’ll need to install a Markdown editor.
If you’re on a Mac, you can install an editor called MacDown.
If you’re on Windows? Use MarkdownPad.
Or, you could explore VS Code Plug-ins for writing Markdown. Some students find these plug-ins work better on their machines than the above technologies.
4
Assessment – Forex Converter
Save
10 – 15 Hours
143 Points
Please note: For some currencies, you will see the following error: forex_python.converter.DecimalFloatMismatchError.If you see this error, just use different currencies and proceed.
For instance, try converting USD to EUR since that seems to consistently work. There is a bug with how some, but not all, of the currencies are being converted in the new update, which the developer is working to fix. It should not block you from completing the assessment.
You will find the assessment linked below. The purpose of this assessment is not just to internalize the material, but to give you a benchmark so you know how you are doing in the course. It is also intended to spark a conversation with your mentor on your strengths and areas of growth, that will help you understand what to focus on in your job search. Be sure to mention how long the assessment took when you talk to your mentor.
Please keep track of the hours you spend on the assessment in this sheet. Most students complete these assessments within 15 hours. If you find yourself struggling to complete the assessment, and you put in at least 25 hours of work, you have the option to submit the work you have done and continue with the course. If you do this, you will need to spend your next mentor session or sessions going over the steps it would have taken to complete the assessment. Please include this time sheet in your final submission.
Assessments are meant to be completed independently, without consulting with your mentor, TA, or online student community. Please refrain from any discussions on Slack regarding this assessment until you have completed it.
When you’ve finished, save your assessment on private GitHub repo and submit your project here below. Be sure that the link is correct, as you can only submit once. You will need to add your mentor to the private repo so they have access to your work. Your mentor will review your assessment and offer you feedback on how you did!
You can only submit the assessment once. The text below the ‘Submit’ button might tell you multiple submissions are okay, don’t listen! In the case of assessments, only the first submission is accepted.
This assessment will have a portion in Markdown, so be sure to follow our instructions about how to write in Markdown and download the correct Markdown editor.
Forex Converter
Assessment: Flask 1
Download code
Part 1: Conceptual
Answer the following questions inside the conceptual.md file.
Part 2: Whose Currency is it Anyway?
You’re going to build a small currency converter! This will be done using the exchangerate.host API which you can read about here.
You will need to make API calls within your route in your app.py.
This is a temporary fix to the use of the forex-python module, and as a result your code and the solution will have differences.
If you want to review your code once you have completed the assessment you should work closely with your mentor. Again, there is no solution covering the use of this in route API call.
Make sure your application has the following:
A form with three inputs:
One input to type in a three letter currency code to convert from
One input to type in a three letter currency code to convert to
Another input to type in a number amount to convert
This could look like this:
Once the form is submitted, make sure that a valid currency code (eg, USD, EUR, JPY) has been input for the currency you are converting from and the currency you are converting to. If the currency code is invalid, you should display a friendly error message to the user letting them know that the currency code is invalid. If the amount is not a valid number, note that, too:
(Hint: To handle the error of an invalid currency code, it may help to check what type of error is raised in the forex-python module and handle it gracefully.)
If the currency code is valid, you should display a message to the user letting them know the value in the currency they are trying to convert into. When you display the converted currency, it should have an accompanying currency symbol and be rounded to two decimal places. For example, if we were to convert 100 USD to EUR, we would expect a reuslt like “€ 85.16”This could look like this:
Refactor your code to move any logic that’s isn’t about the route itself to functions in other Python file(s). Remember, separate your concerns — if you end up with a function that, say, checks if a currency code is valid, you might want this later in a non-Flask app, so move it out of app.py.