artkirienko/geolocation-api-takehome-assignment

📝Test assignment for Senior Ruby on Rails Engineer position

Testing Task - Ruby API - Geolocation with external integration

Need to write a simple API backed by any kind of database. The application should be able to store geolocation data in the database, based on IP address or URL. You can use ipstack.com as a service provider for geolocation data. The API should be able to add, delete or provide geolocation data on the base of ip address or URL. Original document

Application specification:

• It should be a RESTful API
• Keep it mind that the geolocation module should be written in the way that in the future it should be easy to change the service provider.
• It is preferable that the API operates using JSON (for both input and output). Ideally it should follow JSON API standard.
• The solution should also include base specs/tests coverage. If you don’t have enough time, write complete specs for selected endpoint or module.
• As a bonus you can make all endpoints secure, not available to public.

How to submit: Create a public Git repository and share the link with us

Notes:

• Pay special attention to handling errors and edge cases. We will test the behavior of the system under various “unfortunate” conditions.
• We will run the application on our local machines for testing purposes. This implies that the solution should provide a quick and easy way to get the system up and running, including test data (hint: you can add Docker support so we can run it easily)

Requirements

Ruby 3.2.2, PostgreSQL 14.10, Redis 7.2.3 or Docker

Run with Docker

docker-compose up

Run test suite

docker-compose exec -e RAILS_ENV=test rails bundle exec rspec

!Important

My assumptions

My assumptions are as follows regarding the user story for this service:

• user creates a location record via our API by providing an IP address
• a record is enriched with geolocation data if available for this IP address
• user can retrieve information for a single location from our API by providing the location ID
• user can read all location records from our API by iterating through pagination
• user can update a location record via our API by providing a new IP address and location ID
• user can delete a single location from our API by providing the location ID

I assume that the service is not write-intensivve, but is read-intensive. The strategy to manage the read load includes:

• Implementation of proper indexes as we use PostgreSQL database
• Adoption of pagination to prevent resource-intensive queries that fetch all records, followed by serialization and JSON response generation
• Integration of caching using Redis
• Implementation of endpoint security to ensure that only verified users can access our API
• Utilization of the rack-attack rack middleware to block and throttle abusive requests
• Incorporation of load balancing measures during deployment to production
• Deployment of read-only replicas of the database in a production environment

Requests examples

• List all locations paginated

  curl --location 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations/'

• Iterate through paginated list of all locations

  curl --location 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations?page[number]=2'

• Show single location by id

  curl --location 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations/1'

• Create a location using IP address

  curl --location 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json' \
  --header 'Accept: application/vnd.api+json' \
  --data '{
    "data": {
      "type": "locations",
      "attributes": {
        "ip": "173.13.2.11"
      }
    }
  }'

• Update a location using id and new IP address

  curl --location --request PATCH 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations/5' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/vnd.api+json' \
  --header 'Accept: application/vnd.api+json' \
  --data '{
    "data": {
      "type": "locations",
      "attributes": {
        "ip": "172.56.10.74"
      }
    }
  }'

• Delete a location by id

  curl --location --request DELETE 'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/locations/7'

References

FAANG System Design Interview: Design A Location Based Service (Yelp, Google Places)

PostGIS vs. Geocoder in Rails

TODO

• Query URL with GeoIP Gem
• Use JSONAPI::Resources Gem instead of jsonapi-serializer and jsonapi.rb
• Add JWT authentication
• Use Redis for caching
• Add rack-attack rack middleware for blocking & throttling abusive requests
• Add code documentation with yard
• Add PostGIS if fast nearby locations search needed