COSC2759 1

Java Python COSC2759 Assignment 1 Specifications

Deadline                                            Sunday 1 September 2024 (11:59 pm AEST)

% allocated to this assignment             35% (to be marked out of 35)

To be submitted via                             Canvas

To be attempted                                 Individually or in pairs

Scenario

Alpine Inc has recently built a web application that allows users to record simple Notes application. The application is built using NodeJs, Express and backed by a NoSQL MongoDB.

The source code for this application is stored in GitHub but the code itself is built and deployed manually from the lead developer’s (Pete) laptop. Although this process has worked in the past, Pete had recently taken leave from work which has meant that Alpine Inc missed a critical release that contained a new feature for one of their largest clients.

There have also been instances where bugs have been introduced into production which has caused an increase in the number of support calls from their customers, and the support and development teams have had to work overtime to manage the load and fix the issues. These issues are causing reduced morale among the teams, as well  as impacting the revenue of Alpine Inc.

As the newly hired DevOps practitioner, Alpine Inc has turned to you to help resolve their issues and enable their teams to better deliver new features and ensure releases into production are quick and reliable.

To help kick off this transformation, you have proposed that Alpine Inc start looking at establishing a CI pipeline to help reduce dependency on Pete by introducing automated builds and automate their testing processes. This will reduce the strain on the QA team and ensure  bugs and development defects are picked up quickly and fed  back to developers to be resolved before any changes are promoted to production.

The Approach

To make this easier for Alpine Inc, which is rather immature with DevOps methodologies and practices, you have opted to use SaaS tools where possible to help reduce the learning curve for their development team. You will follow best practice principles and make as much of your solution using code, this includes your CI build configuration and scaffolding scripts.

Tools to use:

•    GitHub

•    GitHub Actions – used for creating the pipelines

•     Basic npm commands

After a lengthy and heated debate amongst the team, it was decided to use GitHub Flow as the branching strategy. Rather than committing directly to the “main” branch, it was agreed to always use feature branches and pull requests. However, it was also agreed that engineers could approve their own PR’s.

Deliverable

Alpine Inc expects you to update your GitHub repository with the code and documentation required to run the Continuous Integration build you are creating for them including all files. So far, the company has been sending around a zip for their application and it’s up to you to bring them into the modern age.

You task is to:

1.  Define a CI pipeline by creating a file in the .github/workflows directory. Your pipeline will automatically execute on GitHub Action runners.

2.  Define your readme.md.

Note that when you implement things like linting and end-to-end testing, you might discover  bugs or errors which the development team had not noticed before! You will need to fix them so that your pipeline passes. (Hint: some of the package versions pinned by the dev team in package.json might need to be “bumped” to operate in a more current environment.) < COSC2759 Assignment 1 /p>

Access GitHub Org

1.   Log in to GitHub, navigate to ‘Your organizations’ and accept invite

2.   Create new repository, naming should be student_id-assignment-1

3.   Upload the zipped file found under the assignments section in canvas – happy coding!

Setting up MongoDB

This application being sent relies on a local MongoDB application to store the notes you are taking. For this application the default installation will suffice. Below are steps on how to install and run MongoDB. You will NOT be marked on your DB but it NEEDED to ensure your node application works before and  after updates. You will need MongoDB Community and MongoDB shell.

GUIDES:

https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-windows/

https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-os-x/

https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/administration/install-on-linux/

1. https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/community

Follow the instructions here for installing MongoDB. When installing, please use all DEFAULT settings to ensure the application connects properly.

2. https://www.mongodb.com/try/download/shell

Once MongoDB is installed, install and run MongoDB shell to actually run the database to allow connections locally.

Tasks

The Alpine Inc team needs to be able to understand why you chose to approach your solution the way you did. Create a document with details for each of the elements in your solution, explain how the element works and how it forms part of the overall DevOps process. Write as little as possible to communicate your message. Add screenshots where appropriate to demonstrate that you have completed the requirements of each section.

For a Pass

1.  Create a Readme.md at the root of your git repo that contains the following:

a simple explanation of how the pipeline is run (what commands will cause the pipeline to run correctly, what output is expected)  (4 marks)

2.  Create an analysis.txt file at the root of your git repo that contains the following sections:

a)  Analysis of the problem (What are you trying to solve?) (2 marks)

b)  Explain and justify the solution (How does the solution work?) (1 mark)

c)  Writing quality, layout, and accuracy (1 mark)

3.  Things that need to be added to your Continuous Integration build

a)  Static Code Analysis / Lint (2 marks)

b)  Unit testing (2 marks)

c)   Ensure code coverage is checked (Hint: Research how you enable code coverage with Jest) (2 marks)

d)  Generating an artefact that can be deployed (2 marks)

4.  A proper branching is implemented (GitHub Flow is required). Ensure new features  are developed on feature branches and merged into the main with Pull Requests. (4 marks)

For Credit

5.  Perform. all tasks from the previous level and in addition:

Ensure artefacts are generated on the main branch ONLY (4 marks)

For Distinction

6.  Perform. all tasks from the previous level and in addition:

Ensure the pipeline works with multiple branches, the CI should trigger when a change occurs to any branch.  (4 marks)

For High Distinction

7.  Perform. all tasks from the previous level and in addition:

a)  Run end-to-end tests as part of the pipeline. End-to-end testing is a test that

checks if the flow of an application from start to finish is behaving as expected. The purpose of performing end-to-end testing is to find system dependencies  and to ensure that the data integrity is maintained between various system components and systems. Please read the ReadMe file on the project.  (3 marks)

b)   Execute automated tests that validate that the application functions as expected from the user interface. (2 marks)

c)   If the tests fail, break the build and report back why it failed in the log