In my solution, I implement a terminal that can take either:

• hex streams (0x01 0x03 0x50 0x18 0x01 0x03 0x06 0x3C 0x02 0x03 0x0A 0x07 0x2A 0xFF)
• string inputs (screen_setup 80 24 16colors - translated internally to hex: 0x01 0x03 0x50 0x18 0x01 0xFF )

The challenge was to ensure that the two pipelines (hex and string) remained consistent, robust, and easy to extend. Sufficiently respecting the SOLID principles

graph TD;
    Terminal --> run_hex
    run_hex --> HexCommandValidator
    HexCommandValidator-->validate_hex_input;
    HexCommandValidator-->validate_length_bytes;
    HexCommandValidator-->validate_hex_commands;
    run_hex-->HexParser;
    HexParser-->parse_hex;
    run_hex-->HexCommandHandler;
    HexCommandHandler --> to_executor
    

1. Hex Input Validation - Ensure the incoming hex stream is convertable to hex commands without breaking.
2. Command Parsing - Convert the hex stream into a series of executable commands
3. Command Validation - Ensure all executable commands are accurate and executable
4. Command Execution - Iteratively pass all validated commands for execution

The goal behind this architecture in the pipeline is to ensure easy to follow and debug steps that each validate or transform the data up to the point of execution

Solid principles implemented to achieve this are:

• Single Responsibility Principle (SRP) - Each class and method handles a single aspect of the pipeline. For example, validation, parsing, and execution are separated into distinct methods
• Open/Closed Principle (OCP) - The COMMANDS dictionary allows for easy extension with new commands without modifying existing code.

Consider this input hex stream:

0x01 0x03 0x50 0x18 0x01 0x03 0x06 0x3C 0x02 0x03 0x0A 0x07 0x2A 0xFF

The terminal uses " " and "," as delimeters to get a raw string stream

To setup your environment and clone this project, please follow instructions here: Instructions

Run the program:

python terminal.py

graph TD;
    A[Terminal] --> B[run_string]
    B --> C{StringCommandController}
    C-- Switcher -->D[Super PipeLine -> SpecificPipeLine];
    D-->validate_command_structure;
    D-->validate_input;
    D-->parse_input;
    D-->command_handler;

    

The architecture follows this flow. Should you enter the command:

screen_setup 80 24 16colors

The goal of this Architecture is to embrace the Open/Closed Principle to ensure adding new commands does not affect the interparation of other commands.

To setup your environment and clone this project, please follow instructions here: Instructions

Run the program:

python terminal.py --readable

1. Python 3.8 or higher
   Download Python from python.org.

2. Dependencies
   Ensure the following standard Python libraries are available:

   • argparse (for parsing command-line arguments)
   • sys (for system-level operations)

3. Terminal Emulator
   A terminal or command prompt (e.g., bash, zsh, cmd, or PowerShell).

Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

git clone <repository-url>
cd <repository-folder>