braid uses mocha (test framework), chai (BDD/TDD assertion library), sinnon (spies, stubs, and mocks), nyc (code coverage calculator) for our unit testing. Get aquainted with these packages to have a smooth unit testing experience.
For web sockets braid uses ws
braid uses typescript for our primary code development because of it's opinionated type management among other things. Get a good understanding of what typescript is, it's benifits, drawbacks, and dev flow

Setting up

download the braid repo into a folder in the same directory as the primary yardstick folder
vagrant up in the primary yardstick folder
run the command compose stop braid && compose rm braid && tsc && compose build braid && compose up -d
- compose stop stops the default braid container that vagrant up builds
- compose rm braid removes the default braid container
- tsc transpiles the typescript in braid into javascript
- compose build braid builds the braid container based on the latest transpiled javascript files
- comopose up -d builds the braid container based on the files in the braid folder, overriding the defaul braid build container

Building to Docker Hub

run ./build
when complete you'll see something like this Your new docker tag: yardstick/micro-services:braid-tagid
copy this tag id, and in the yardstick docker-compose.yml file change the image field to have the new tage, for example:

braid:
  image: yardstick/micro-services:braid-{add the new tag here}
  environment:
    VIRTUAL_HOST: ysbraid.localhost
    HTTPS_METHOD: noredirect
    VIRTUAL_PORT: 8443

once complete and confirmed to function, create a new PR for the measure repo, with the new tag and await ultimate judgement

Local Development

you can see if braid is running by typing in https://ysbraid.localhost:8443
to connect to braid you need to use the url wss://ysbraid.localhost:8443?token={token}
- the token is generated in the application that you're connecting to the braid app with (currently only measure has an implementation for this)
you can generate a token for development in you local console (app-console) with the following commands:

secret = "test"
payload = {
  :data => {
    :client => 'client name (mhs is only one implemented currently)',
    :client_type => 'site (only one in use rite now)',
    :user_id => (yardstick user id),
    :user_type => '(teacher/user)',
    :channel => 'desired channel name'
  },
  :sub => 'Braid JWT',
  :aud => "internal",
  :iss => 'Yardstick Software',
  :exp => Time.now.to_i + 120 * 3600 (optional)}

token = JWT.encode payload, hmac_secret, "HS256"

to test your changes before pushing you can run npm test