Date: 2024-03-22
Accepted
The Puppet.Dsc repository contains a number of github workflows and all of them, currently, have duplicated code. For example, the code to configure winrm is duplicated in 6 places throughout the 4 github workflows. Duplicated code is generally considered bad practice in software development. By avoiding code duplication through techniques like abstraction, code reuse, and modularization, you can create a codebase that is easier to maintain, understand, and test.
In github workflows there are 3 main ways to dry up duplicated code: Reusable Workflows, Dispatched workflows, and Composite Actions. Since most of the duplication in this repository is in clusters of repeated steps, then the Composite Action is probably the best option. The Composite Action is a reusable piece of code that can be used across multiple GitHub workflows. It allows you to combine multiple steps into a single action, which can then be used in different workflows, reducing code duplication and improving maintainability.
Therefore, I decided to dry up duplication in our github actions with Composite Actions.
With a single action.yml to change, it is easier now to change behaviour across many workflows. For example, now there is one place to change the version of the PDK; one place to adjust the winrm configuration.