Codecon Challenge - 1S vs 3J

This repository contains my implementation of the "1S vs 3J" challenge proposed by Codecon, using Laravel 12 with Octane and Swoole. I chose this stack to focus on high-performance in-memory APIs with a clean and modular architecture.

🧠 The Challenge

Build a RESTful API that:

• Accepts a JSON file with 100,000 users via a command.
• Stores data entirely in memory (no DB).
• Exposes analytics endpoints with response times under 1 second.
• Returns in every response:
  • Processing time in milliseconds.
  • Request timestamp.

🎯 Objectives

• Efficient data loading and access in memory.
• Consistent sub-second response times.
• Maintainable, modular and typed codebase.
• Adherence to SOLID, PSR standards, and Laravel 12 best practices.

🚀 Tech Stack

• Laravel 12
• Laravel Octane
• Swoole Extension
• PHP 8.3+
• No database, no external cache — memory only.

⚙️ Why Laravel Octane + Swoole?

I selected Swoole with Laravel Octane to leverage:

• Coroutine-based concurrency (non-blocking I/O).
• Persistent memory between requests.
• High throughput and low latency.
• Stateless design ideal for this type of challenge.

📦 Data Load Strategy

Instead of using the HTTP POST /users endpoint, which would block the server due to large payload size and 30s timeout limits, the data loading is performed via CLI command, which is:

• More performant and reliable for 100,000 records.
• Fully compatible with Octane/Swoole memory model.
• Finishes consistently in under 40 seconds, using a streaming JSON parser.
• Preserves system responsiveness and respects the challenge constraints.

✅ Command Used

The command to load users is:

php artisan users:process

This command will:

• Read users.json from storage/app/
• Parse it in stream (low memory)
• Save it in memory (cache) in chunks
• Log progress and total execution time

This approach is valid and aligned with the challenge goals, delivering the same final result as POST /users, but in a more robust and scalable way.

🔍 Endpoints Overview

• GET /api/v1: Check API status.
• GET /api/v1/check: Check cache data after loading.
• GET /api/v1/superusers: Users with score >= 900 and active = true.
• GET /api/v1/topCountries: Top 5 countries with most superusers.
• GET /api/v1/teamInsights: Aggregated metrics per team.
• GET /api/v1/activeUsersPerDay: Daily login counts, optional filter via ?min=3000.
• GET /api/v1/evaluation: Evaluate endpoints (status, latency, valid JSON).

▶️ Running the Project

1. Clone the repository

git clone <repository-url>
cd <project-folder>

2. Build and start the container

docker-compose up -d --build

3. Access the container

docker-compose exec app sh

4. Run post-install script

./scripts/post-install.sh

This script will:

• Install Laravel Octane
• Run php artisan install:api
• Install Octane config for Swoole
• Generate application key
• Clear and cache config/routes

4.1 Run start-server script

• Start Octane server on port 8000 using scripts/start-server.sh

5. Load data

php artisan users:process

6. If I had more time, what would I improve?

• Add tests (unit, integration, functional).
• Improve error handling and logging.
• Create a Service or Action class for data processing and Business Logic.
• Implement a more robust caching strategy.

📄 License

MIT