challenge: skinny-rails

So you want to learn Rails? Or you want to show off how well you know Rails?

Here's your chance. This simple app challenge has been designed with you in mind. The domain is small and well-known, the app is typical, and tests have been provided. They are not perfect! So watch out.

This repo contains a code challenge created for a newly-graduated proto-Ruby developer, to introduce them to the world of frameworks, HTTP status codes, and object-relational mappings (ORMs). This repo is intended to be populated using Rails 5 and Ruby 2.3.1.

the challenge

Build a url-shortening service (like http://bit.ly) called "skinny" in Ruby 2.3, using the Rails framework (http://rubyonrails.org/), backed up by a PostgreSQL database.

The framework will be tested using using curl; it doesn't need a user interface right now, just responses. If you want to build one? Go crazy.

To get started, fork this repo. From the repo root, run bin/bootstrap.sh, which will kickstart your project. No cheating by looking at other forks!

If you ever get your database completely horked and want to start with a clean db after migrations, run bin/terraform.sh.

If you want me to review it, or you get stuck, drop me a line and I'll help.

data model

The data model for the service should look (something) like this:

the Slug model (and slugs table) :

• url: a unique string/text field containing a uri : "http://a.long.company.com/this/is/some/deep/nesting"
• slug: a unique string/text field containing a short string to be used as the slug : "1ab2"
• id: an auto-incrementing integer containing the slug's unique identifier : 26

the Lookup model (and lookups table) should have (something like) the following:

• slug_id: an integer field containing the id field of a slug object : 26
• ip_address: a string/text field containing the IP address of the client making the lookup request : "4.4.4.8"
• referrer: a string/text field containing the URL referring the link : "http://referrer.com/page"
• created_at: a timestamp field containing the time the client made the request

The shortening service should be able to do the following, in concept (and assuming the domain name for the service is (http://skinny.dev):

response should be JSON

all response bodies should be formatted using JSON.

feature: submitting a url

a client can submit a url to the service via a POST request and receive a slug that can later be used to look up that url.

$ curl -v --data "url=http://some.really.long.url.com/this/is/a/path/to/a/resource" http://skinny.dev/

> POST / HTTP/1.1
> Host: skinny.dev
> User-Agent: curl/7.49.1
> Accept: */* >
< HTTP/1.1 201 Created
{ "location": "http://skinny.dev/1b325ac" }

1. if the url already exists in the service's data, it returns the existing lookup url (http://skinny.dev/:slug) with an HTTP status code of 200 (OK).
2. if the url does not exist, a new short 'slug' (a2b3 above) is generated, and the url and slug are recorded in the database. This returns with an HTTP status code of 201 (Created) and uncludes the lookup url.
3. if the url submitted is poorly formed or does not exist, the server returns a response with an HTTP status code of 400 (Bad Request), and an error message.

feature: retrieving a url from a slug

a client can lookup a url from the slug by submitting a GET request to the service with the slug in the url.

$ curl --get http://skinny.dev/a2b3

> GET /a2b3 HTTP/1.1
> Host: skinny.dev
> Location: http://some.really.long.url.com/this/is/a/path/to/a/resource
> User-Agent: curl/7.49.1
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 301 Moved

1. if the slug is found, it responds with a status code of 301, and the full url ("http://some.really.long.url.com/this/is/a/path/to/a/resource") in the Location: field of the response header. in this case, a new lookup is created with information from the request.
2. if the slug is not found, it responds with a status code of 404.

feature: retrieving status on a slug

the user should be able to get stats on the slug, via a GET request to http://skinny.dev/stats/:slug

$ curl --get http://skinny.dev/stats/a2b3

> GET /stats/a2b3 HTTP/1.1
> Host: skinny.dev
> Location: http://some.really.long.url.com/this/is/a/path/to/a/resource
> User-Agent: curl/7.49.1
> Accept: */*
>
< HTTP/1.1 200 OK

{ "lookups": 25 }

1. if the slug is found, return the creation time and number of times the slug has been looked up with a status code of 200 (OK). (e.g., how many lookups are associated with the slug.)
2. if the slug is not found, respond with a status code 404 (Not Found)

getting started

to get started, fork this repository, then clone onto your local machine. a Rails project (initial install) with some tests has been created already. define the routes; fill in the logic behind the routes, then the data storage via a connection to PostgreSQL.

if you're on a mac, use homebrew to get rbenv and ruby-install, then install 2.3.1:

brew install rbenv ruby-install

Update your .bash\_profile, and start rbenv, then:

rbenv install 2.3.1

if you haven't already, install bundler and foreman:

gem install bundler
gem install foreman

to run the tests: bin/rspec to run this project: foreman start

Libraries used:

• Factory Girl -- factories and generators
• Shoulda-Matchers -- for great justice in specs
• RSpec-Rails -- RSpec and rails extensions for specs
• Rubocop -- nice and tidy

good luck!

--Ben Vandgrift (@bvandgrift / ben@vandgrift.com)