CNA Practice

Live site: https://leo0331.github.io/sharpface/

CNA Practice is an independent study app for University of Adelaide Computer Networks and Applications historical exam questions and revision notes. The collection contains every recoverable question and sub-question from the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Semester 1 primary exam papers supplied with this project. Run npm run stats for current counts.

The app keeps past exam wording separate from original study guidance. It is intended for study and revision; historical questions and notes may not reflect the current University of Adelaide CNA syllabus, assessment format, or official answers.

Technology

• Next.js App Router, React, strict TypeScript, Tailwind CSS
• Local typed question data; no account or database
• Browser localStorage for reviewed, bookmarked, and last viewed progress

Run locally

npm install
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. Verification commands:

npm run lint
npm run typecheck
npm test
npm run stats   # dataset counts + validation (also runs before build)
npm run build

Deployment

The site is a static export (out/) published to GitHub Pages. Every push to main runs .github/workflows/deploy.yml. The workflow runs lint, typecheck and tests, then builds with PAGES_BASE_PATH=/<repo name> and deploys out/ with GitHub's Pages actions. In the repository's Settings → Pages, set Source to GitHub Actions. Pull requests are checked by .github/workflows/ci.yml (lint, typecheck, tests, build), and Dependabot (.github/dependabot.yml) opens weekly npm and monthly GitHub Actions update PRs. The build also writes sitemap.xml from the data. Submit it in Google Search Console, since a project site cannot serve a root robots.txt. Live site: https://leo0331.github.io/sharpface/.

Pages

• / — collection overview, category links, and local study progress (continue where you left off, reviewed count, reset)
• /questions — searchable library with shareable year, category, topic, type, answer-status, and my-progress (bookmarked / reviewed / not reviewed) filters
• /questions/[id] — question and separate Key Concepts, Answer Approach, and Full Answer reveals, previous/next navigation, and links to the other parts of the same exam question
• /practice — configurable one-question-at-a-time practice with local progress and a reset button
• /topics and /topics/[slug] — data-derived topic counts and listings
• /categories/[slug] — data-derived category listings
• /about — source labeling and disclaimer

On question and practice pages, keyboard shortcuts toggle guidance (K concepts, A approach, F answer), mark progress (R reviewed, B bookmark), and move between questions (← / → or P / N). Printing a question page (Ctrl/Cmd + P) hides navigation and includes all guidance sections.

Data structure

src/types/question.ts defines the Question, QuestionType, AnswerStatus, and QuestionSource contracts. Question records live in one file per exam year:

src/data/questions/
  2013.ts   2014.ts   2015.ts   # questions2013 / questions2014 / questions2015
  source.ts                     # examSource(year, page) and exam file names
  index.ts                      # exports the combined `questions` array

src/lib/validation.ts holds the pure validateQuestions() checks used by the tests and by scripts/dataset-report.mjs. src/lib/filters.ts contains reusable pure search and filter functions; src/lib/questions.ts provides data-derived queries and counts. src/lib/progress.ts handles local progress state. UI components live in src/components.

Dataset

Each exam sub-question is its own record with a deterministic ID (2015-q2-d-i = 2015, Question 2(d)(i)), plus parentQuestion and part linking it to its parent. Sub-question records repeat the shared stem so each page stands alone.

• Question text is transcribed from the PDF. Only line-wrap hyphenation and layout are fixed; historical typos (e.g. “Subnect”, “occured”) are kept. Handwritten student annotations on the scans are excluded.
• category is one of application-layer, transport-layer, network-layer, link-layer, security-management. Each topic (e.g. “Congestion Control”, “TCP Connection”) belongs to exactly one category.
• type is one of concept, why, comparison, calculation, true-false, scenario, protocol-flow, algorithm.
• keyConcepts (3–8 cues), answerApproach (3–6 guiding steps), answer, and optional formulas are revision notes written for this app, not official marking schemes.
• answerStatus: verified — directly supported by the supplied 2017 student study notes; draft — written from networking principles and the textbook (Kurose & Ross) with no historical answer available, stating any assumption made where the question is ambiguous; needs-review — the wording, figure, or interpretation is uncertain. Items needing attention are listed in docs/dataset-review.md.
• requiresFigure / figureDescription mark questions that depend on a figure in the paper and give a text transcription of it.

Example record:

{
  id: '2015-q2-d-iii', year: 2015, exam: 'Primary Examination, Semester 1',
  questionNumber: 'Q2(d)(iii)', parentQuestion: '2015 Q2(d)', part: 'iii',
  category: 'transport-layer', topic: 'Reliable Transport',
  subtopics: ['Alternating Bit', 'Go-Back-N', 'Selective Repeat', 'Sequence numbers'],
  type: 'concept', marks: 3,
  question: 'We looked at three protocols for providing reliable transport: Alternating Bit, Go-Back-N and Selective-Repeat.

Given a window size, W , what is the minimum sequence space required for each of these protocols?',
  keyConcepts: ['Sequence number wrap-around', 'W + 1 for GBN', '2W for SR', '1 bit for Alternating Bit'],
  answerApproach: ['Alternating Bit has a window of 1: how many numbers distinguish new from duplicate?', 'For GBN, consider a full window sent and all ACKs lost.', 'For SR, the sender and receiver windows must not overlap.'],
  answer: 'Alternating Bit: 2 sequence numbers (0 and 1). Go-Back-N: W + 1. Selective Repeat: 2W (the window can be at most half the sequence space).',
  formulas: ['AB: 2', 'GBN: ≥ W + 1', 'SR: ≥ 2W'],
  source: {
    type: 'past-exam', institution: 'University of Adelaide',
    course: 'Computer Networks and Applications', courseCode: 'COMPSCI 3001 / 7039',
    year: 2015, file: 'CNA-2015-s1-MAIN.pdf', page: 4,
  },
  answerStatus: 'draft',
}

In the year files, source is written as examSource(2015, 4).

Add a question or year

1. Open the source PDF and verify exact wording, marks, year, question reference, and page.
2. Add one record per sub-question to the year file (src/data/questions/<year>.ts, created from an existing one and added to index.ts). Use examSource(year, page), and add the file name to examFiles in source.ts.
3. Write separate keyConcepts, answerApproach, and answer fields. Set answerStatus honestly, and add a docs/dataset-review.md entry for anything uncertain.
4. Run npm run stats, lint, typecheck, tests, and build. Years, topics, category counts, routes, and filters update from data automatically. (To add years outside 2013–2015, update examYears in src/lib/validation.ts.)

Future roadmap

The typed data boundary allows a later JSON, CMS, or database import without changing page components. Possible later work includes more years, accounts and cloud sync, answer submission, AI explanation, random quizzes, spaced repetition, difficulty and statistics, import tools, a content editor, Markdown answers, and mathematical notation. These are outside this v1.