adds recitation 4 and hw5 changes

Author: Aditya Shrivastava

docs/_data/schedule.yaml

@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
     link: ''
     name: ''
   recitation:
-    handout: ''
+    handout: 'recitations/reci4-github'
     name: 'GitHub'
     quiz: ''
     slides: ''

docs/assignments/hw5-25.md

@@ -10,23 +10,23 @@
 You and your team have modified and tested a basic calculator app. Now, you're going to deploy that app so that anyone can access it.
 
 **This is a group project**. You will work in groups to understand AWS and Github documentation, and use your understanding to set up a deployment workflow that deploys the calculator app on every push to main. This assignment is intentionally less prescriptive than prior assignments;
-*a large component of the work is reading and understanding documentation.* 
+*a large component of the work is reading and understanding documentation.*
 
 
 ## Assignment instructions
 
 In this assignment, you will use AWS to deploy your webapp. Specifically, you'll use:
 - AWS lambda to run your backend code.
 - API Gateway to expose your calculator API to the web.
-- S3 to host your frontend code. 
+- S3 to host your frontend code.
 - Github actions to automatically deploy updated frontend/backend code to S3/lambda.
 
-We'll describe each of these components in more detail next. 
+We'll describe each of these components in more detail next.
 
 ### Deliverables
 
 For this assignment, each group will turn in:
-- One paragraph on your division of responsibilities (see immediately next). 
+- One paragraph on your division of responsibilities (see immediately next).
 - A link to the production deployment of your calculator app.
 - A link/links to your Github deployment workflows.
 - A link to the most recent commit to main, showing that your deployment workflow has run successfully.
@@ -78,23 +78,32 @@ You are going to create a [REST API](https://www.redhat.com/en/topics/api/what-i
 This API will expose the `calculate` function.
 
 Start from [this tutorial](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/services-apigateway-tutorial.html#services-apigateway-tutorial-api) or the AWS docs above to create a REST API that exposes `calculate`.
-Then, coordinate with your team to make sure that invocations of `calculate` call the calculator's backend lambda code. 
+Then, coordinate with your team to make sure that invocations of `calculate` call the calculator's backend lambda code.
 
-### 3. Use S3 to host your frontend code
+### 3. Use S3 and Amplify to host your frontend code
 
 [S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/) is cloud storage for basically anything.
-You'll be using it to host your calculator frontend code.
+You'll be using it to host your calculator frontend code. With this you will be able to store the files that govern the frontend logic of your code. To deploy and expose these files at a publicly available URL endpoint, you will have to integrate this to AWS Amplify.
 
-TODO: J+A, describe amplify and how this works, the interactions between FE and API
+[AWS Amplify](https://aws.amazon.com/amplify/) is a cloud-based development platform that simplifies frontend and full-stack web application deployment. In this assignment, you will use Amplify to manage deployment of the frontend of your calculator application.
+
+Amplify integrates with [Amazon S3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/hosting.html) to store and serve static assets like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. It provides an automated deployment pipeline that syncs with your GitHub repository and updates the frontend whenever changes are pushed to the main branch.
+
+To complete this part of the assignment, refer to the following AWS documentation:
+- [Getting started with Amplify hosting with S3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/deploy-website-from-s3.html)
+- [Using Amplify With Github](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/setting-up-GitHub-access.html)
+
+Your task is to set up Amplify to host the frontend of your application, ensuring that updates are deployed automatically on each commit to the main branch.
 
 ### 4. Use Github actions to automatically deploy on each push to main
 
 Finally, you will use a Github action to automatically:
 1. Deploy your packaged backend lambda code.
 2. Deploy your frontend code to S3.
+3. Deploy the updates made on S3 to Amplify endpoint.
 
 In order to do this, you will need to allow Github to authenticate to AWS.
-Follow the [Github documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/security-for-github-actions/security-guides/using-secrets-in-github-actions) to safely use your AWS secrets in CD. [This AWS blog post](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/using-github-actions-to-deploy-serverless-applications/) describes some (basic) best practices for generating and handling AWS authentication secrets in CI; navigate to the "Configuring AWS credentials in GitHub" section of the tutorial. 
+Follow the [Github documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/security-for-github-actions/security-guides/using-secrets-in-github-actions) to safely use your AWS secrets in CD. [This AWS blog post](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/using-github-actions-to-deploy-serverless-applications/) describes some (basic) best practices for generating and handling AWS authentication secrets in CI; navigate to the "Configuring AWS credentials in GitHub" section of the tutorial.
 
 #### Deploying backend code
 

docs/recitations/reci4-github.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+# Recitation #4 – GitHub Basics
+
+## What is GitHub?
+GitHub is a **web-based version control platform** that uses Git, a popular version control system. It is widely used by **individuals, teams, and organizations** to manage software development projects. GitHub also hosts many **open-source projects and enterprise solutions**.
+
+### Why Use GitHub?
+- **Collaboration** – Multiple developers can work on the same project seamlessly.
+- **Version Control** – Allows easy rollback and tracking of changes.
+- **Automated Deployment** – Supports seamless automated solution deployment.
+
+## Understanding Commits
+### What is a commit?
+A commit is a **snapshot of changes** in a codebase.
+
+### Best Practices for Commits
+- **Write meaningful commit messages** – Clearly describe the change.
+- **Use atomic commits** – Keep changes small and focused.
+
+## Pull Requests
+### What is a Pull Request (PR)?
+A pull request is a **code difference analysis tool** that enables reviewing and merging changes into the main codebase.
+
+### Review Process
+- **Code approvals** – Ensure quality and correctness.
+- **Comments for feedback** – Encourage discussion and improvements.
+
+## Linking Issues to Pull Requests
+### What is an issue?
+An issue is a log of **tasks, bug reports, and feature requests** used to track development progress.
+
+### Linking Issues to PRs
+- Use **keywords** like `Fixes #21` or `Closes #42` in PR descriptions.
+- Improves **traceability** and **automates issue closure** upon merging.
+
+## Managing Releases
+### What is a release?
+A **versioned snapshot** of the code after key milestones.
+
+### Key Aspects of Releases
+- **Tagging versions** – Use versioning strategies like **Semantic Versioning** (`v1.0.0`).
+- **Drafting release notes** – Document key changes and improvements.
+- **Attaching binaries** – Include compiled files if necessary.
+
+## Good Coding Practices
+### Branching Strategies
+- **Git Flow** – Main branch with feature and hotfix branches.
+- **Feature Branching** – Separate branches for new features.
+- **Hotfixes** – Patches for critical issues.
+
+### Commit and PR Guidelines
+- **Clear, concise commit messages**
+- **Descriptive PRs** with context and explanation
+
+### Code Review Etiquette
+- **Provide constructive feedback**
+- **Encourage respectful discussions**
+
+## Introduction to GitHub Actions
+GitHub Actions is an **automation tool** for CI/CD workflows.
+
+### Triggers for Workflows
+- **Push and Pull Requests** – Automate actions based on repository events.
+- **Jobs and Steps** – Define a sequence of automated actions.
+
+### Common Use Cases
+- **Automated Testing** – Run unit tests on new commits.
+- **Automated Deployment** – Deploy code to production or staging environments.
+- **Code Linting** – Enforce coding standards automatically.
+
+## Practice
+To apply these concepts, follow the steps below:
+
+1. **Fork** the repository: [simple-calculator](https://github.com/Jacqueline-Tsai/simple-calculator)
+2. **Set up** the application locally.
+3. **Create an issue** (e.g., "Developer Log") to track your changes.
+4. **Create a Pull Request (PR)** that adds a `console.log` whenever a calculation takes place.
+5. **Link the issue to the PR** using GitHub keywords.
+6. **Merge the PR** once approved.