main.yml

# Name of the workflow (appears in GitHub Actions tab)
name: Backend CI  

on:
  # Run workflow when pushing to main branch
  push:
    branches: [ "main" ]
  # Run workflow when opening/updating a pull request targeting main
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]

jobs:
  build:
    # GitHub provides virtual machines (runners)
    # 'ubuntu-latest' is free, fast, and has Java/Maven preinstalled
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest  

    steps:
      # Step 1: Get your repository code into the runner
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4  

      # Step 2: Install Java (JDK 8 in your case)
      - name: Set up JDK 8
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          java-version: '8'        # Java version required for your project
          distribution: 'temurin'  # Open-source JDK distribution

      # Step 3: Define environment variable for test environment
      # $GITHUB_ENV is a special file to persist env vars between steps
      - name: Set environment to test
        run: echo "ENVIRONMENT=test" >> $GITHUB_ENV  

      # Step 4: Build the project and run JUnit tests using Maven
      # -B means batch mode (non-interactive, cleaner CI logs)
      # 'clean' removes old builds, 'verify' compiles and runs tests
      # to only build the backend
      - name: Build and run tests with Maven
        run: mvn -B clean verify
        working-directory: backend

      # Step 5: Install Render CLI
      - name: Install Render CLI
        run: curl https://cli.render.com/install.sh | sh
        env:
          RENDER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_KEY }}