try_repo : ALPHA status forever

• Dummy repo to test Travis CI and GitHub continuous integration.
• Create test environment for Python and Miniconda.
  • Prepare code for migration from python27 to python3.
• Test Travis for pip versus conda installations.
• Use pytest for unit testing.
• Use flake8 for Python linting.
• Find essential and minimal requirements for successful build.

Programming Travis

The Travis continuous integration process is summed up in a dot file called .travis.yml to be placed at the top directory within a git repository. There are some useful tricks in writing such a YAML file, especially where a complex scientific stack is needed. For the Python ecosystem, the Anaconda distribution saves us from the hell of dependencies which involves binaries necessary for computational speed. We shall install miniconda prior to installing only what is essential to a particular project. See our https://git.io/travis for a reasonable example.

Travis is agnostic about the testing utilities. We could have alternatively used nose and pylint, instead of pytest and flake8.

Travis is run on containers and virtual machines based on Ubuntu (14.04 has code name trusty), so the scripting within the YAML file are shell commands.

Build status

Watch the status of interim builds at https://travis-ci.org/MathSci/try_repo/builds

Why ALPHA status forever? There will be many fails to determine whether the tests and jobs are actually detecting intentional errors. Find the last successful build to retrieve a reliable .travis.yml file to serve as your starting point.

Tip: What you learn from a successful Travis build can also be used to write an effective Docker container file.

The summary logs will show how specific utilities, such as pytest and flake8, report back to Travis. The raw logs are interesting if you need to see the fine details of the various installations.

References

• YAML Ain't Markup Language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML
• For Travis newbies: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/for-beginners
• Python setup: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/languages/python
• Install dependencies: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/installing-dependencies
• Travis customization: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/customizing-the-build
• Notifications from Travis: https://docs.travis-ci.com/user/notifications

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Last update : 2018-04-09