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Shehab Hosny
Shehab Hosny

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GitHub Actions Workflow for Ultimate Laziness

Table of Contents


My Workflow


Motivation behind the Workflow

Let's all agree that we, as Human Beings, prefer laziness most of the time. We love snoozing the alarm for an extra five minutes every morning, we prefer texting our siblings who are just sitting in the next room, sometimes we don't even run through our exam paper before submitting it just because we are too lazy to do so.

Besides laziness, we usually get bored so easily, from tedious tasks at work right through to waiting in line at the supermarket. Our brains simply don't respond well to experiences that are too predictable and repetitive. This lack of amusement is what we call boredom.
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That's why we invented Machines and enhanced the overall process of automation. Simply to make everything better, from increasing productivity to building more efficient and flawless products.

Well, in the Software Engineering field, we too have some tedious tasks to keep on doing daily to maintain the output product. Here comes GitHub, or more specifically GitHub Actions, to provide us a solution to automate any number of repetitive tasks and start the process with something just as simple as a mouse click! Impressive, right? Buckle up and get ready, because your mind is about to be blown away.
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How did GitHub Actions help me?

Let me tell you my story from the 3rd-person point of view perspective. So, Shehab is an Open-Source enthusiast who created a GitHub repository called DiffCpp almost a year ago. At this moment in time, DiffCpp has a lot of users, forks, and stars (well, this is not the case for now, but hopefully it might be shortly). Anyway, this GitHub repo currently requires regular maintenance and updates to be alive. Since Shehab is a slothful person who avoids doing monotonous tasks, he decided to use existing GitHub Actions to build a perfect workflow to automate any kind of work needed to ensure that the codebase will not be broken in whatever way before releasing it.

So, he decided to brainstorm and list out all of the possible sets of tasks needed to get the job done. He found out that these tasks can be categorized as follows:

  • Documentation

    • Check the Formatting of the Codebase
    • Generate Documentation
      • Since this is a C++ project, Doxygen will be used.
    • Generate Release Notes to notify the user with changes.
  • Testing

    • Check for a Successful Build on top of:
      • Linux (Ubuntu)
      • Windows
    • Use Google Test for:
      • Unit Testing: Test the logic of each API on its own.
      • Block Testing: Test the logic of the package as a whole.
    • Check the Benchmark of the package APIs using Google Benchmark.

Well obviously, this is much to do, but cautious! SPOILER ALERT is on the way, and let me just tell you not only that GitHub allowed me to do all of the previously listed tasks with ZERO effort but it also provided me with this charming pipeline visualization at the end of the process.
Visualization Graph


How I created this workflow?

For simplicity, letโ€™s consider the following scenario. I woke up this morning, grabbed a cup of coffee, and checked out my GitHub account just to find out that someone created an issue in the DiffCpp repo mentioning the following:

Input = ๐Ÿ”ต
Expected Output = ๐Ÿ”ด
Actual Output = โšช
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This needs an immediate fix. So, I decided to offer $10,000,000 (I wish I had this amount of money in real life) for the first contributor who solves the issue. Well, for the first thought, you may think that this will solve the issue but have you imagined how many pull requests would I get per minute?
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Apart from the number of pull requests, I wouldn't even be able to check all of them to find out which ones get the job done, this would take me forever! Thanks to Google Test that allowed me to add a new test with something just as simple as these 2 lines of code:

Output = Input(๐Ÿ”ต);
EXPECT_EQ(Output, ๐Ÿ”ด);
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So, here comes GitHub Actions (in collaboration with Google Test) to solve the problem. So, I decided to build a workflow to check each submitted pull request for the following:

  1. Successful Build ๐Ÿ”ง

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    build-linux:
      name: Linux
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
    
      - name: Build
        run: cmake .
    
      - name: Make
        run: make
    
      - name: Upload Linux Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: DiffCpp-Linux
          path: ./DiffCpp
    


    For windows build, the same steps would be used using windows-specific CMake commands.

    Actions Used:

  2. Code Formatting ๐Ÿ“

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    clang-format-check:
      name: Format Check
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
    
      - name: Check Codebase Format
        uses: RafikFarhad/clang-format-github-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          sources: "src/*.cpp,include/*.h,test/*.cpp"
    


    Actions Used:

  3. Unit and Block Testing ๐Ÿ“‹

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    verification:
      name: Unit and Block Testing
      needs:
        - build
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
    
      - name: Cache GoogleTest Package
        id: cached-gtest
        uses: actions/cache@v2
        env:
          cache-name: cache-gtest-repo
        with:
          path: googletest
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
    
      - name: Install GoogleTest
        if: steps.cached-gtest.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: mkdir googletest &&
             git clone https://github.com/google/googletest.git
    
      - name: Build
        run: cmake -DBUILD_TESTS=ON .
    
      - name: Make
        run: make
    
      - name: Run Unit Tests
        run: ./DiffCpp_tst
    


    Actions Used:

    • actions/cache@v2 is used to cache the output of the specified step. This will allow GitHub to skip the specified action if it has been already done before.

    Cache

    Note: If you are using any verification method other than GoogleTest, you can simply use the uploaded artifact from the build job and pass it to this one. GitHub is great isn't it? Anyway, for C++ projects, GoogleTest is perfect for verification. You will even have the ability to check the test results from the GitHub Actions log as it is shown right here ๐Ÿ‘‡

    GoogleTest

When these checks pass successfully, the following will be shown in the pull request itself to facilitate direct merge.
Pull Request Check

Moreover, you can feast your eyes on the charming visualization of this pipeline showing the complete flow of the code review right here ๐Ÿ‘‡
Pull Request Pipeline

We are not done yet! Additionally, GitHub can even notify me when someone submits a valid pull request that solves the issue. So, I will be able to successfully check over millions of pull requests effortlessly.

Notification

Well, now it is time to generate a release, but again I have neither intention nor energy to do any other work (as if I have done any). Thus, I decided to build another workflow, based on the previous one, that will be in charge of generating the release from A to Z and can be triggered with a simple mouse click.

Alt text of image

First things first, my strategy will be based on DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself). Thus, I decided to make use of what is called Reusable Workflows. Yes! it is exactly as fascinating as you read, GitHub has just introduced a new feature of reusing workflows, many thanks to @blackgirlbytes for her awesome blog post about the feature.

So, I needed to add the following tasks:

  1. Generate Documentation for the Codebase ๐Ÿ“œ

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    doxygen-doc:
      environment:
        name: Doxygen Documentation
        url: https://shehab7osny.github.io/DiffCpp/include/
      name: Generate Documentation
      needs:
        - codebase
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
    
      - name: Run Doxygen
        uses: mattnotmitt/doxygen-action@v1
        with:
            working-directory: 'include/'
    
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          publish_dir: ./include/html
          destination_dir: ./include
    


    Actions Used:

    The environment specified here has a url of Doxygen output displayed just right in the workflow visualization graph itself.

    URL Documentation

    This job has a single dependency โžก๏ธ codebase formatting

    The generated URL will consist of detailed code documentation as follows:

    Doxygen Documentation

  2. Compute the Benchmark ๐Ÿ“ˆ
    Alt text of image
    For those of you who don't know, Benchmarking means measuring the performance of a certain program with respect to time.

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    benchmarking:
      environment:
        name: Benchmark Results
        url: https://shehab7osny.github.io/DiffCpp/dev/bench
      name: Benchmark (Performance)
      needs:
        - verification
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
    
      - name: Cache Google Benchmark Package
        id: cached-benchmark
        uses: actions/cache@v2
        env:
          cache-name: cache-gbench-repo
        with:
          path: benchmark
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}
    
      - name: Install Google Benchmark
        if: steps.cached-benchmark.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: mkdir benchmark &&
            git clone https://github.com/google/benchmark.git benchmark
    
      - name: Build
        run: cmake -DBENCHMARK_DOWNLOAD_DEPENDENCIES=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DBUILD_BENCH=ON .
    
      - name: Make
        run: make
    
      - name: Run Benchmark
        run: ls && ./DiffCpp_BENCH --benchmark_format=json | tee benchmark_result.json
    
      - name: Store benchmark result
        uses: benchmark-action/github-action-benchmark@v1
        with:
          tool: 'googlecpp'
          output-file-path: benchmark_result.json
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          fail-on-alert: true
          comment-on-alert: true
          auto-push: true
    


    Actions Used:

  3. This job has a single dependency โžก๏ธ verification

    The generated URL will consist of Benchmark Graph as follows:

    Benchmark

  4. Create a new Release (with Release Notes) ๐Ÿ“ญ

    YAML snippet (Click to Expand)
    release-project:
      name: Release Project
      needs:
        - benchmarking
        - doxygen-doc
      runs-on: ubuntu-latest
      steps:
      - name: Download Linux Artifact
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: DiffCpp-Linux
    
      - name: Download Windows Artifact
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v2
        with:
          name: DiffCpp-Windows
    
      - name: Create GitHub Release
        id: create-new-release
        uses: actions/github-script@v4.0.2
        with:
          github-token: ${{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}
          script: |
            await github.request(`POST /repos/${{ github.repository }}/releases`, {
              tag_name: "${{ github.event.inputs.release_ver }}",
              generate_release_notes: true
            });
    


    Actions Used:

    This job has two dependencies
    โžก๏ธ benchmarking
    โžก๏ธ doxygen-doc

    In case you are new to Auto Generate Release Notes, don't hesitate to check out this charming video created by @mishmanners , many thanks for her. Anyway, I decided to take this feature to a new level and include it in an automated action itself. So, I'm literally automating an automated task!

    Here is a snapshot of the auto-generated release notes:

    Release Notes

    Besides, the built artifacts will be ready for download (both for Linux and Windows)

    Artifacts

Finally, after the completion of all these tasks, we can have a look on this charming visualization of the pipeline showing the complete flow of the release process right here ๐Ÿ‘‡
Visualization Graph


Submission Category:

Maintainer Must Haves

In conclusion, I just want to point out that relating this workflow with laziness is for nothing but simplicity of illustration. However, in real life, developers commonly tend to avoid such monotonous tasks so that they can keep focused on the development itself rather than dealing with numerous amount of tasks for verification and release purposes. So, from my point of view, using this workflow in any project is a must, and will help developers to focus more on introducing new features to the project while making sure that the codebase is not broken.


Yaml File or Link to Code

Here is the DiffCpp repo

GitHub logo Shehab7osny / DiffCpp

Diff tool for Windows/Linux implemented in C++

Build Status Build Status coverage License: MIT

DiffCpp

This package is used to compare two files line by line and show the differences.

Build and Installation

Linux

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

Windows

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .
cd Debug/

Usage

Linux

./DiffCpp File_1_Path File_2_Path [/N] [/A] [/W]

Windows

DiffCpp File_1_Path File_2_Path [/N] [/A] [/W]

Main Arguments

Argument Description
File_1_Path This represents the old version of the file
File_2_Path This represents the new version of the file

Optional Arguments

Argument Description
/N Option to add line number to the displayed output
/A Option to display the updates only and ignore common matches
/W Option to ignore whitespaces difference while comparing files

Sample Use Case

File 1 (recursion_Old.py)

def tri_recursion(k):
  if(k > 0):
    result = k + tri_recursion(k - 1)
  else:
    result = 1
  return result
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File 2 (recursion_New.py)

def tri_recursion(
โ€ฆ
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Additional Resources

Top comments (21)

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abdullahshaker10 profile image
abdulah shaker

This was very useful for me
keep going man

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you a lot!
Glad it helped ๐Ÿ˜Š

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almohanadaw profile image
Almohanad Aw

I like the style it is so good and the idea is way way more better than I expected, keep going

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Much appreciated!
Glad you liked the idea ๐Ÿ˜Š

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mhesham98 profile image
Mohammed Hesham

Great work!, Good presentation. Great effort keep going

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you a lot!
Glad you liked it ๐Ÿ˜Š

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mohandgamal profile image
Mohand-Gamal

This was quite helpful and interesting topic. Way to go

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

More upcoming topics are on the way ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ˜Š
Stay tuned!

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daliabadawy5 profile image
Van-Dahlia

That's great ! Keep going โ˜บ๏ธ

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you โ˜บ๏ธ

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omarhakem97 profile image
OmarHakem97

Thats a very inspiring article. Its super relatable XD.
Procrastination is a real epidemic and I think your way of tackling it is very intuitive.

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you a lot! โ˜บ๏ธ
Yup, you are right... procrastination is a real epidemic

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shawqy profile image
AbdelRahman Shawqy

Great Work, You have a very impressive way in presenting a very useful tool that can help any one not only developers. keep going

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Many Thanks! Much appreciated ๐Ÿ˜Š

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hazemmostafa17 profile image
HazemMostafa17 • Edited

This is great , very helpful and interesting.
Way to go.

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you!
Glad it was useful ๐Ÿ˜Š

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minaasaad profile image
MinaAM

I love the motivation for such work, very relatable ๐Ÿ˜„
Neatly done as well ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ keep it up

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marwanemadmourad profile image
Marwan Emad

Very insightful shehab, keep going.

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shehab7osny profile image
Shehab Hosny

Thank you! โ˜บ๏ธ