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---
title: Google Summer of Code 2021
date: 2021-08-19 23:07
tags: gsoc, FOSSology
category: development
description: This is the final report of my Google Summer of Code 2021 at The FOSSology Project.
---
# Google Summer of Code 2021
date
2021-08-19 23:07
tags
gsoc, FOSSology
category
report
summary
This is the final report of my Google Summer of Code 2021 at The
FOSSology Project.
slug
final-evaluation
status
published
<style>
.rd {color:red;font-weight:bold}
.gr{color:green;font-weight:bold}
.or{color:orange;font-weight:medium}
ul{margin-bottom:0}
</style>
## The CMake Build system
FOSSology is quite an old and mature project. The project has been using
bare metal **Makefiles**. As the project is growing with new agents and
modernization it was required to have a modern build system.
The FOSSology is a suite of well-integrated and synchronized
sub-projects (called agents) written in C, C++, and PHP. Most of the
major agents are in C, C++ and that made CMake an obvious choice for a
new build system for FOSSology. CMake is a versatile set of build, test,
and packaging tools and is the most popular choice of C/C++ developers.
CMake can be extended to create a build system for other languages too
via custom scripts.
## GitHub Actions CI/CD
<img src="/images/ci.png"
class="float-md-right rounded border border-info ml-3 float-md-right rounded border border-info ml-3"
width="350" alt="A CI Meme" />
Since the FOSSology project moved on Github, it has used only the free
Travis CI service for OSS projects. At the time of writing Travis CI has
reduced its free tier CI services. GitHub Actions provides faster
builds. Since GitHub Actions is a fully managed service by GitHub, we
don’t need to know how to scale and operate the infrastructure to run
it.
It is straightforward to use with GitHub because when we fork a
repository, the actions automatically get forked. This allows you to
test and build projects very efficiently and even run them closer to the
developer. Also, you have readily available access to the GitHub API,
making it more popular among developers.
## Improvements over previous build system and CI
The new build system and CI brings a lot of improvements and features.
The list below describes them.
- CMake enforces out-of-source builds. This was already possible with
the previous build system but not a strict requirement. This feature
keeps the source code clean and makes cleaning the build artifacts
easy. (Just remove the build folder :)
- One of the major improvements over the previous build system is faster
build times. CMake generates parallel build-enabled configurations for
all generators. In our tests, the new build system is at least twice
as fast as the previous one. With further improvement in
configuration, we will be able to further cut the build times.
- Previously FOSSology can only be built using *Unix Makefiles*. With
CMake, we can now use many other popular generators such as *Ninja*.
- Now it is also very flexible to choose different compilers. This will
help support more platforms and architecture in the future. As of now,
we are experimenting with Clang compilers.
- FOSSology is quite an old project and a lot of agent testing code was
written in the last decade. Initially, none of them were compatible
with the new build system, but we were able to hack most of the test
code using better-improved methods. Test times have also improved.
- Migrating from Travis CI to GitHub Actions was another big move and
for the most part, it removes the dependency on a third-party CI
service. Along with that GitHub Actions provides better build times,
tons of new features, and better integration with other GitHub
services.
## Deliverables
<div class="alert alert-info" role="alert">
<ul class="simple">
<li>Final Pull Request <a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/fossology/fossology/pull/2075">#2075</a></li>
<li>Pull Request Branch <a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/avinal/fossology/tree/avinal/feat/buildsystem">avinal/feat/buildsystem</a></li>
<li>Working Branch (individual commits) <ul>
<li><a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/avinal/fossology/tree/avinal/feat/cmake-buildsystem">avinal/feat/cmake-buildsystem</a></li>
<li><a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/avinal/fossology/tree/avinal/feat/testing">avinal/feat/testing</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li>Project Issue <a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/fossology/fossology/issues/1913">#1913</a></li>
<li>Project Discussion <a class="badge badge-info" href="https://github.com/fossology/fossology/discussions/1931">#1931</a></li>
<li>Weekly Reports<ul>
<li><a class="badge badge-info" href="https://gsoc.avinal.space">Personal Blog</a></li>
<li><a class="badge badge-info" href="https://fossology.github.io/gsoc/docs/2021/buildsystem/">FOSSology Official Blog</a></li>
</ul></li></ul>
</div>
### CMake Build System Tasks
<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 23%" />
<col style="width: 15%" />
<col style="width: 15%" />
<col style="width: 30%" />
<col style="width: 23%" />
<col style="width: 38%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>#</th>
<th>Agents</th>
<th>Build</th>
<th>Install</th>
<th>Testing</th>
<th>Packaging</th>
<th>Remarks</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>1</td>
<td>adj2nest</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>2</td>
<td>buckets</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><span class="gr">YES</span></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>3</td>
<td>cli</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="rd">Functional</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>4</td>
<td>copyright</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>5</td>
<td>debug</td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>6</td>
<td>decider</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>7</td>
<td>deciderjob</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>8</td>
<td>delagent</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="rd">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="rd">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>9</td>
<td>demomod</td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="or">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="or">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="or">NO</span></td>
<td><em>(Not Used)</em></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>10</td>
<td>example_wc_agent</td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="or">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="or">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><span class="or">NO</span></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><em>(Not Used)</em></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>11</td>
<td>clib</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>12</td>
<td>cpplib</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>13</td>
<td>phplib</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td>1 functional test needs fix</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>14</td>
<td>maintagent</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>15</td>
<td>mimetype</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>16</td>
<td>monk</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>17</td>
<td>ninka</td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="or">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="or">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="or">NO</span></td>
<td><em>(Deprecated)</em></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>18</td>
<td>nomos</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>19</td>
<td>ojo</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td>1 functional test needs fix</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>20</td>
<td>pkgagent</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>21</td>
<td>readmeoss</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>22</td>
<td>regexscan</td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="or">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><span class="or">NO</span></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><em>(Deprecated)</em></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>23</td>
<td>reportImport</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>24</td>
<td>reuser</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>25</td>
<td>reso</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>26</td>
<td>scheduler</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="rd">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="rd">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td>Tests needs fix</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>27</td>
<td>softwareHeritage</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>28</td>
<td>spasht</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>29</td>
<td>spdx2</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td>1 Test failing in CI</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>30</td>
<td>unifiedreport</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>31</td>
<td>ununpack</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="rd">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td>Unit tests needs fix</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>32</td>
<td>wget_agent</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="gr">Functional</span></li>
<li><span class="gr">Unit</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>32</td>
<td>www</td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td><ul>
<li><span class="rd">UI</span></li>
</ul></td>
<td><span class="gr">YES</span></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
### GitHub Actions CI Tasks
| \# | CI Tasks | Status |
|-----|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 | <span class="gr">build</span> | Added Ubuntu 20.04 GCC 8, 9 and Clang, GCC 7 not working |
| 2 | <span class="gr">c/cpp unit test</span> | Added, delagent, scheduler and ununpack not working |
| 3 | <span class="gr">phpunit tests</span> | Added, delagent and scheduler functional not working |
| 4 | <span class="rd">cahching</span> | Not implemented |
| 5 | <span class="rd">source install</span> | Not implemented |
(<span class="gr">GREEN</span>: COMPLETED, <span class="rd">RED</span>:
INCOMPLETE, <span class="or">ORANGE</span>: NOT NEEDED/DEPRECATED)
## How does it work and how to use it?
<div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9">
<iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="/images/second-build.webm" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
The new build system retains the modular and hierarchical structure of
the previous build system. On the other hand, the new build system
provides several new flags to control the build. The new build system
forces out-of-source build instead of the previous in-source builds.
This keeps the source clutter-free and reduces the chance of
accidentally deleting source files. *Testing still needs some in-source
artifacts, this will be solved once all the tests are fixed according to
the new build system.*
Each agent is a complete CMake sub-project with its independent
configuration for building, installing, and testing. That means a single
agent can be built and installed separately and even removed from the
default build without breaking other builds. The directory structure is
as below.
```bash
.
├── build # temporary directory for build artifacts
├── cmake # CMake modules for FOSSology
│ ├── FoPackaging.cmake # CMake Packaging configurations
│ ├── FoUtilities.cmake # Custom CMake utilities
│ ├── FoVersionFile.cmake # VERSION version.php CMake template file
│ ├── SetDefaults.cmake # CMake defaults for this project
│ ├── TestInstall.make.in # Template makefile for install during tests
│ └── VERSION.in # VERSION file template
├── src
│ ├── agent-1 # Agent sub-project
│ │ ├── agent # Agent's source code directory
│ │ │ ├── agent-source-code
│ │ │ └── CMakeLists.txt
│ │ ├── agent_tests # Agent's test directory
│ │ │ ├── Unit
│ │ │ ├── Functional
│ │ │ └── CMakeLists.txt
│ │ ├── ui # Agent's UI source code
│ │ │ ├── templates
│ │ │ └── agent-ui-code
│ │ └── CMakeLists.txt # Agent's top-level CMake configuration
: :
│ ├── other agents
: :
│ └── CMakeLists.txt # Source intermediate CMake configuration
:
├── other directories and files
:
└── CMakeLists.txt # FOSSology Top-level CMake configuration
```
The `cmake` directory contains customized CMake modules and templates
for FOSSology. This directory is required for all the operations. The
general workflow of the new build system as well as how to use it is
described below.
1. Since the new build system is still in review. You must fork
FOSSology and pull the
[\#2075](https://github.com/fossology/fossology/pull/2075) pull
request branch. Once you are in FOSSology root, run these commands.
> ``` bash
> git fetch https://github.com/avinal/fossology avinal/feat/buildsystem:buildsystem
> git checkout buildsystem
> ```
2. The first step towards building is to create a temporary directory
for storing intermediate files and build artifacts. By convention we
use a directory named `build`, but you can use any name. (**NOTE:
For testing do not use other names**)
> ``` bash
> mkdir build
> cd build
> ```
3. In the next steps, we will configure the CMake project and generate
the required configurations. You can use several flags to control
the build. Given below are the flags available for this project.
> <table style="width:99%;">
> <colgroup>
> <col style="width: 34%" />
> <col style="width: 43%" />
> <col style="width: 20%" />
> </colgroup>
> <thead>
> <tr class="header">
> <th>CMake Flags</th>
> <th>Description</th>
> <th>Default</th>
> </tr>
> </thead>
> <tbody>
> <tr class="odd">
> <td><strong>-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=&lt;path&gt;</strong></td>
> <td>Sets the install prefix.</td>
> <td><code>/usr/local</code></td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="even">
> <td><strong>-DAGENTS="agent1;agent2..."</strong></td>
> <td>Only configure these agents.</td>
> <td>ALL AGENTS</td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="odd">
> <td><strong>-DOFFLINE=&lt;ON/OFF&gt;</strong></td>
> <td>Controls vendor generation, ON=NO</td>
> <td><strong>OFF</strong></td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="even">
> <td><p><strong>-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=&lt;type&gt;</strong></p>
> <blockquote>
> <ul>
> <li>Controls build type aka level optimisation</li>
> </ul>
> </blockquote></td>
> <td><ul>
> <li><code>Debug</code></li>
> <li><code>Release</code></li>
> <li><code>RelWithDebInfo</code></li>
> <li><code>MinSizeRel</code></li>
> </ul></td>
> <td><code>Debug</code></td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="odd">
> <td><strong>-DTESTING=&lt;ON/OFF&gt;</strong></td>
> <td>Controls testing config generation</td>
> <td><blockquote>
> <p><strong>OFF</strong></p>
> </blockquote></td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="even">
> <td><strong>-DMONOPACK=&lt;ON/OFF&gt;</strong></td>
> <td>Package adj2nest and ununpack seperately</td>
> <td><strong>OFF</strong></td>
> </tr>
> <tr class="odd">
> <td><strong>-GNinja</strong></td>
> <td>Use Ninja instead of Unix Makefiles</td>
> <td><em>Unix MakeFiles</em></td>
> </tr>
> </tbody>
> </table>
>
> There are lots of inbuilt CMake command-line options you can see
> them in the official
> [documentation](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.10/manual/cmake.1.html).
> Once you have chosen your flags we can now configure the project
> using the following commands.
>
> ``` bash
> # From build folder
> cd <name-of-build-directory>
> cmake <flags> ..
> ```
4. The next step is to build the project. You can use parallel jobs to
build faster. For more options you can type `cmake --help` or
`make --help` or `ninja --help`.
> ``` bash
> # Common build command for all generators,
> # Default number of parallel builds depends on generator used
> cmake --build . --parallel <no-of-processes>
>
> # For Unix Makefiles, no parallel build by default
> make -j <no-of-processes>
>
> # For Ninja, 8+ parallel build by default (depends on system)
> ninja -j <no-of-processes>
> ```
5. Installing is also as easy as building. You can choose to install
only certain components even if you have built the whole project. If
you directly invoke the install command without building the
project, it will automatically build the project first.
> ``` bash
> # For Unix Makefiles
> make install
>
> # For Ninja
> ninja install
> ```
6. While testing has some issues, most of the testing is working fine.
For now, you must build and run any test from the FOSSology root
directory only. You can choose to configure a single agent if you
want to test one agent only. See `ctest --help` for controlling test
runs.
> ``` bash
> # Common testing command
> ctest --parallel <no-of-processes>
>
> # For Unix Makefiles
> make test
>
> # For Ninja
> ninja test
> ```
7. You can package FOSSology, the packaging currently lacks copyright
and conf files. But for testing purposes, you can use the following
commands. Similar to installing, if you run the package command
without building the project, it will automatically build the
project first. See `cpack --help` for more packaging options.
> ``` bash
> # Common testing command
> cpack
>
> # For Unix Makefiles
> make package
>
> # For Ninja
> ninja package
> ```
## Known Issues and Drawbacks
Although the transition from Makefiles to CMake and Travis CI to GitHub
Actions is almost complete and working as expected. But it is not free
of drawbacks and issues. This section outlines the known issues at the
time of writing.
<img src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/conference_question.png"
class="float-md-right rounded border border-info ml-3 float-md-right rounded border border-info ml-3"
width="350" alt="A Bug Meme" />
- Coverage builds may fail with linking errors.
- Packaging prefix is the same as the install prefix. This requires the
developer to set the install prefix manually before packaging to
produce packages with the correct directory structure.
- Testing and packaging must be used from the FOSSology root directory.
Not doing so may or may not configure the project as intended.
- Previously tests were written hardcoded for the Makefiles. But new
build system requires all artifacts to be generated in a separate
directory. This required me to add symbolic links wherever a generated
script or file is expected. Tests can still leave some artifacts
inside source folders.
- There is no easy way to install a particular agent from the FOSSology
root directory.
- Packages don't contain copyright, readme, and license files. CMake
doesn't provide a way to include these files. This is being tracked by
issue
[\#21832](https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/21832).
- While packaging the symbolic links may or may not be dereferenced and
hence results in copying the folder too in the target directory.
- Running tests locally may require switching to `fossy` user.
- While configured for testing, it may give permission errors.
- Scheduler, Ununpack, and Delagent unit and functional tests are not
working. I have added an issue
[\#2084](https://github.com/fossology/fossology/issues/2084) to track
the progress on fixing these tests.
- CMake doesn't generate uninstall targets. The closest thing to
uninstall is [this
snippet](https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/community/-/wikis/FAQ#can-i-do-make-uninstall-with-cmake).
This will be later added to the FOSSology.
## Challenges Faced
While this whole project was challenging, some aspects of it were
unforeseen and more challenging. When I decided to go on with this
project I just had enough CMake knowledge to write a configuration for a
very small project. I had never used CMake on this big scale. On the
other side, the FOSSology community is largely unknown to CMake so for
all of us it was learned, practiced, and implement. With support from
mentors, I was able to overcome this challenge with flying colors.
The other challenge was to understand the old build system, how they are
all connected and what is the flow. The complexity can be imagined by
the fact that the most of code and configurations were written in the
decade before the last decade and haven't changed much since then.
The most challenging task was to make tests work with the new build
system. Since tests were mostly hardcoded and the new build system
refactored many of the files and directory, the tests were failing
initially. The testing part took me the most time. All thanks to my
mentor Gaurav, I was able to hack them to suit the
new build system.
## Related Resources and Links
- Fix FOSSology agent tests issue
[\#2084](https://github.com/fossology/fossology/issues/2084)
- feat(CI): Migrate API docs generation and deployment to GitHub Actions
pull request
[\#1917](https://github.com/fossology/fossology/pull/1917)
- feat(CI): Migrate Static Checks and Analysis to GitHub Actions from
Travis CI [\#1919](https://github.com/fossology/fossology/pull/1919)
## Future Development Plans
There is a lot to do with the new build system and CI and it will
probably take a year or to reach a maturity point. I was able to meet
most of the goals but some of them are remaining.
- Fix the tests, probably renovate them from the ground up.
- Find a hack for packaging problems.
- Improve and optimize the build.
- Modernise the source code, remove old, bloated code and replace them
according to new standards.
## What did I learn from this project?
This Google Summer of Code was the busiest time of my life for all good
reasons. I learned a lot about license compliance and how it all works
in the software industry. The next big thing is CMake. As I mentioned I
was just a novice user of CMake. Now I am confident that given any other
large project I will be able to migrate it/improve it. I got to learn
PHP, of which I did not know a single word before GSoC. And finally, I
learned about packing and testing. I had these courses but implementing
them myself and fixing them was a wholesome experience.
Other than that I improved on my communication and presentation skills.
Collaborating with fellow participants was one of the great things that
happened during GSoC.
## Acknowledgments
Google Summer of Code is the best thing that has happened to me this
year so far. Although there are numerous people to say thanks to, I want
to mention key people who were my motivation and support during this
period.
First of all, I want to thank and appreciate my mentors [Gaurav
Mishra](https://github.com/GMishx), [Michael C.
Jaeger](https://github.com/mcjaeger), [Anupam
Ghosh](https://github.com/ag4ums), and [Shaheem Azmal M
MD](https://github.com/shaheemazmalmmd). Without the help and support
from them, all this would not have been possible. They are very polite,
knowledgeable, and helpful.
Finally, I want to thank, my family and friends. I got to meet many
awesome developers as my fellow participants from around the world, I
wish we will do more collaboration in the future.
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