Merge pull request #82 from orkes-io/staging

recipe post

Author: dougsillars

blog/2022-04-18-workflows-recipe-analogy.md

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+---
+slug: workflows-as-recipe
+title: What are workflows? A recipe analogy
+authors: doug
+tags: [Netflix Conductor, Orkes, microservices, workflow, 2022]
+image: https://orkes.io/content/img/blogassets/recipe.jpg
+---
+
+What is a workflow?  Wikipedia says "A workflow consists of an orchestrated and repeatable pattern of activity, enabled by the systematic organization of resources into processes that transform materials, provide services, or process information."
+
+None of that is incorrect.  But it is certainly a mouthful.  If I am asked in an elevator what a workflow orchestration is, I like to use analogies to make the point as approachable as possible:
+
+
+ "It's like a recipe for code. A recipe has a series of steps, that must be run in a specific order.  Iyt can also have different options for food allergies, or different ingredients you might have on hand?  A workflow is a recipe for your code, and can be built to handle many of the changes that might reasonably occur when the code runs."
+
+## Workflows as recipes
+
+You may have seen one of the name videos out there of parents teaching kids code by writing out the steps to create a Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich.
+
+<p align="center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ct-lOOUqmyY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
+
+
+We're not going to be quite as silly as that Dad, but we'll run through some instructions on how to [create a PB&J](https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly-Sandwich-4/) from Instructables..  
+
+> If you look at the URL of that recipe - it appears it took 4 tries to get it right :D https://www.instructables.com/How-to-Make-a-Peanut-Butter-and-Jelly-Sandwich-4/
+
+The steps are (skipping some substeps for clarity):
+
+1. Gather Your Ingredients for the Sandwich
+2. Pull Out Two Slices of Bread
+3. Open Peanut Butter and Jelly
+4. Spread the Peanut Butter Onto One Slice of Bread
+5. Spread the Jelly Onto the Other Slice of Bread
+6. Combine the Two Slices
+7. Clean Up Your Workspace
+8. Enjoy Your Sandwich
+
+(if you read closely, I skipped 3 steps - wearing gloves, removing the crust and cutting the sandwich in half... because, well - that's all just ridiculous)
+
+The eight steps above are a workflow.  They must be performed in that order to create a sandwich - you cannot spread the PB before you lay out the bread.
+
+## Building a Conductor Workflow
+
+We can turn these 8 steps into a Conductor workflow. 
+<p align="center"><img src="/content/img/blogassets/pbj1.png" alt="PB&J example workflow" width="400" style={{paddingBottom: 40, paddingTop: 40}} /></p>
+
+> If you'd like to see the definition of this workflow, you can check out the code on the [Orkes Playground](https://play.orkes.io/workflowDef/PBJ/1). It's free to sign up.
+
+
+This workflow shows clear steps with arrows pointing to the next step - so it is visually possible to see how the workflow will progress.
+
+## Improving the workflow
+
+Each task is run by a microservice, so making changes and adding tasks is easy to do. In this example - you see that the recipe calls for PB to be spread first, and then the jelly.  This works for a single human - these steps each take 2 hands.  But there is no reason that the jelly cannot go first, and THEN the PB.  Or - if you had more hands - the PB and the Jelly could be spread simultaneously.
+
+### Independent tasks
+
+Let's remove the PB dependency from the jelly spreading - as the order of PB vs. jelly does not matter.
+
+We can do this in Conductor with a [FORK](https://orkes.io/content/docs/reference-docs/fork-task).  A fork splits your workflow into 2 asynchronous tasks, and then a [JOIN](https://orkes.io/content/docs/reference-docs/join-task) reconnects the the workflow into a single path.
+
+We can now apply a fork to apply PB, and a second fork to apply the jelly:
+
+<p align="center"><img src="/content/img/blogassets/pbj2.jpg" alt="PB&J example workflow" width="800" style={{paddingBottom: 40, paddingTop: 40}} /></p>
+
+This is version 2 of the workflow, and you can see it in the [playground](https://play.orkes.io/workflowDef/PBJ/2)
+
+Now, these operations are independent, and if there is space in the jelly task queue - that can be completed ahead of the PB.
+
+## Recipe variations
+
+Often, recipes have variations to preparation, and they can be read like an IF statement in programming (If (fresh tomatoes) {do x}, else if (tinned tomatoes) {do y}.
+
+
+### Cooking a burrito
+
+Let's look at a common example - from a burrito in my freezer.  The directions vary depending on the cooking method.
+
+<p align="center"><img src="/content/img/blogassets/burrito.jpg" alt="burrito instructions" width="400" style={{paddingBottom: 40, paddingTop: 40}} /></p>
+
+
+We can emulate this in a workflow using a switch task.  The Switch task takes in the workflow ovenType input ```${workflow.input.ovenType}``` and based on this value will make a decision.  The default case is for the microwave, and then second ```decisionCase``` is set to "oven".  From that input, the different tasks can be run.
+
+<p align="center"><img src="/content/img/blogassets/burrito_workflow.png" alt="burrito workflow" width="400" style={{paddingBottom: 40, paddingTop: 40}} /></p>
+
+
+## Conclusion
+
+Workflows are a series of tasks that must be followed in a certain order. In this post, we used cooking recipes as an analogy to a workflow - they too are a series of tasks that must be followed in a certain order.
+
+We created sample workflows for making a peanut and jelly sandwich ([version 1](https://play.orkes.io/workflowDef/PBJ/1) and [version2](https://play.orkes.io/workflowDef/PBJ/2)) and another workflow to cook a [frozen burrito](https://play.orkes.io/workflowDef/burrito) with microwave or oven instructions.
+
+If you're curious about how to build a workflow orchestration - it might be a fun exercise to try your favorite recipe as a workflow.  You can build on the workflows from this post in our free playground.  Feel free to share what you came up with in our [Discord](https://discord.gg/pYYdYsYTAw). We love seeing creative uses of workflows!

blog/assets/burrito.jpg

@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@
 
 Software Development Kit for Netflix Conductor, written on and providing support for Clojure
 
+## Get the SDK
+https://clojars.org/io.orkes/conductor-clojure
+
 ## Quick Guide
 
 1. Create connection options

blog/assets/burrito_workflow.png

@@ -6,12 +6,15 @@ To find out more about Conductor visit: [https://github.com/Netflix/conductor](h
 `conductor-csharp` repository provides the client SDKs to build Task Workers and Clients in C#
 
 ## Quick Start
+1. [Get Secrets](#Get-Secrets)
+2. [Write workers](#Write-workers)
+3. [Run workers](#Run-workers)
+4. [Worker Configurations](#Worker-Configurations)
+5. [Starting workflow](#Starting-workflow)
 
-1. [Write workers](#Write-workers)
-2. [Run workers](#Run-workers)
-3. [Worker Configurations](#Worker-Configurations)
-4. [Starting workflow](#Starting-workflow)
-
+### Get Secrets
+Executing workflow or polling a task from a playground requires keyId and keySecret.
+Please follow [guide](https://orkes.io/content/docs/codelab/helloworld#application-permissions) to provision one for your application.
 
 ### Write workers  
 
@@ -50,7 +53,8 @@ To find out more about Conductor visit: [https://github.com/Netflix/conductor](h
 
 ### Run workers
 Create main method that does the following:
-1. Adds configurations such as metrics, authentication, thread count, Conductor server URL
+1. Search for package called conductor-csharp in microsoft nuget package manager and install it as dependencies. If you are planning to run worker then
+Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting is also required.
 2. Add your workers
 3. Start the workers to poll for work
 ```
@@ -66,28 +70,33 @@ using Conductor.Client.Extensions;
 using Conductor.Client.Interfaces;
 
 using Task = System.Threading.Tasks.Task;
+using Conductor.Client;
+using System.Collections.Concurrent;
 
-namespace SimpleConductorWorker
+namespace TestOrkesSDK
 {
     class Program
     {
-        static async Task Main(string[] args)
+        static void Main(string[] args)
         {
-           await new HostBuilder()
-                .ConfigureServices((ctx, services) =>
-                {
-
-                    Configuration configuration = new Configuration(new ConcurrentDictionary<string, string>(), "keyId", "keySecret");
-                    services.AddConductorWorker(configuration);
-                    services.AddConductorWorkflowTask<MyWorkflowTask>();
-                    services.AddHostedService<WorkflowsWorkerService>();
-                })
-                .ConfigureLogging(logging =>
-                {
-                    logging.SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Debug);
-                    logging.AddConsole();
-                })
-                .RunConsoleAsync();
+            new HostBuilder()
+                 .ConfigureServices((ctx, services) =>
+                 {
+                    // First argument is optional headers which client wasnt to pass.
+                     Configuration configuration = new Configuration(new ConcurrentDictionary<string, string>(), 
+                         "keyId",
+                         "keySecret");
+                     services.AddConductorWorker(configuration);
+                     services.AddConductorWorkflowTask<MyWorkflowTask>();
+                     services.AddHostedService<WorkflowsWorkerService>();
+                 })
+                 .ConfigureLogging(logging =>
+                 {
+                     logging.SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Debug);
+                     logging.AddConsole();
+                 })
+                 .RunConsoleAsync();
+            Console.ReadLine();
         }
     }
 
@@ -115,6 +124,21 @@ namespace SimpleConductorWorker
             await workflowTaskCoordinator.Start();
         }
     }
+
+    internal class MyWorkflowTask : IWorkflowTask
+    {
+        public MyWorkflowTask() { }
+
+        public string TaskType => "my_ctask";
+        public int? Priority => null;
+
+        public async Task<TaskResult> Execute(Conductor.Client.Models.Task task, CancellationToken token)
+        {
+            Dictionary<string, object> newOutput = new Dictionary<string, object>();
+            newOutput.Add("output", 1);
+            return task.Completed(task.OutputData.MergeValues(newOutput));
+        }
+    }
 }
 ```
 Save above code with workers code in Program.cs and run it using consoleApplication.
@@ -124,16 +148,42 @@ Alternatively it can also be hosted as windows service.
 Worker configuration is handled via Configuraiton object passed when initializing TaskHandler
 
 ### Starting workflow
-Below is the code snippet in order to start the workflow,
+Below is the code snippet in order to register and start the workflow,
 ```
-//Optional headers clients wants to pass.
-Dictionary<string, Object> optionalHeaders = new Dictionary<string, Object>();
- Configuration configuration = new Configuration(optionalHeaders, "keyId", "keySecret", "https://play.orkes.io/");
-            WorkflowResourceApi workflowResourceApi = new WorkflowResourceApi(configuration);
-            Dictionary<string, Object> input = new Dictionary<string, Object>();
-            //Fill the input map which workflow consumes.
-            workflowResourceApi.StartWorkflow("Stack_overflow_sequential_manan", input, 1);
+IDictionary<string, string> optionalHeaders = new ConcurrentDictionary<string, string>();
+Configuration configuration = new Configuration(optionalHeaders, "keyId", "keySecret");
+
+//Create task definition
+MetadataResourceApi metadataResourceApi = new MetadataResourceApi(configuration);
+TaskDef taskDef = new TaskDef(name: "test_task");
+taskDef.OwnerEmail = "test@test.com";
+metadataResourceApi.RegisterTaskDef(new List<TaskDef>() { taskDef});
+
+//Create workflow definition
+WorkflowDef workflowDef = new WorkflowDef();
+workflowDef.Name = "test_workflow";
+workflowDef.OwnerEmail = "test@test.com";
+workflowDef.SchemaVersion = 2;
+
+WorkflowTask workflowTask = new WorkflowTask();
+workflowTask.Type = "HTTP";
+workflowTask.Name = "test_"; //Same as registered task definition.
+IDictionary<string, string> requestParams = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+requestParams.Add("uri", "https://www.google.com"); //adding a key/value using the Add() method
+requestParams.Add("method", "GET");
+Dictionary<string, object> request = new Dictionary<string, object>();
+request.Add("http_request", requestParams);
+workflowTask.InputParameters = request;
+workflowDef.Tasks = new List<WorkflowTask>() { workflowTask };
+//Run a workflow
+WorkflowResourceApi workflowResourceApi = new WorkflowResourceApi(configuration);
+Dictionary<string, Object> input = new Dictionary<string, Object>();
+//Fill the input map which workflow consumes.
+workflowResourceApi.StartWorkflow("test_workflow", input, 1);
+Console.ReadLine();
 ```
+Please go through Conductor.Api package to find out supported apis
+
 
 ### Running Conductor server locally in 2-minute
 More details on how to run Conductor see https://netflix.github.io/conductor/server/