elm/exercises/hamming/README.md
Katrina Owen 6151955420 Generate static exercise README templates
We are working towards making exercises stand-alone. That is to say: no more generating READMEs on the fly.

This will give maintainers more control over each individual exercise README, and it will also make some of the backend logic for delivering exercises simpler.

The README template uses the Go text/template package, and the default templates generate the same READMEs as we have been generating on the fly.  See the documentation in [regenerating exercise readmes][regenerate-docs] for details.

The READMEs can be generated at any time using a new 'generate' command in configlet. This command has not yet landed in master or been released, but can be built from source in the generate-readmes branch on [configlet][].

[configlet]: https://github.com/exercism/configlet
[regenerate-docs]: https://github.com/exercism/docs/blob/master/maintaining-a-track/regenerating-exercise-readmes.md
2017-07-16 13:24:35 -06:00

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# Hamming
Calculate the Hamming difference between two DNA strands.
A mutation is simply a mistake that occurs during the creation or
copying of a nucleic acid, in particular DNA. Because nucleic acids are
vital to cellular functions, mutations tend to cause a ripple effect
throughout the cell. Although mutations are technically mistakes, a very
rare mutation may equip the cell with a beneficial attribute. In fact,
the macro effects of evolution are attributable by the accumulated
result of beneficial microscopic mutations over many generations.
The simplest and most common type of nucleic acid mutation is a point
mutation, which replaces one base with another at a single nucleotide.
By counting the number of differences between two homologous DNA strands
taken from different genomes with a common ancestor, we get a measure of
the minimum number of point mutations that could have occurred on the
evolutionary path between the two strands.
This is called the 'Hamming distance'.
It is found by comparing two DNA strands and counting how many of the
nucleotides are different from their equivalent in the other string.
GAGCCTACTAACGGGAT
CATCGTAATGACGGCCT
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^
The Hamming distance between these two DNA strands is 7.
# Implementation notes
The Hamming distance is only defined for sequences of equal length. This means
that based on the definition, each language could deal with getting sequences
of equal length differently.
## Elm Installation
Refer to the [Exercism help page](http://exercism.io/languages/elm) for Elm
installation and learning resources.
## Writing the Code
The first time you start an exercise, you'll need to ensure you have the
appropriate dependencies installed.
```bash
$ npm install
```
Execute the tests with:
```bash
$ npm test
```
Automatically run tests again when you save changes:
```bash
$ npm run watch
```
As you work your way through the test suite, be sure to remove the `skip <|`
calls from each test until you get them all passing!
## Source
The Calculating Point Mutations problem at Rosalind [http://rosalind.info/problems/hamm/](http://rosalind.info/problems/hamm/)
## Submitting Incomplete Solutions
It's possible to submit an incomplete solution so you can see how others have completed the exercise.