Outline improvements

Author: jeffrey-cordero

_docs/developer/rensselaer_center_for_open_source/2025_Jeffrey_Cordero.md

@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ category: Developer > Rensselaer Center for Open Source (RCOS) > Summer 2025
 
 ### Summary
 
-Over the ten weeks, I was a key contributor to the large-scale open-source academic platform, focusing on major feature development, infrastructure modernization, security enhancements, and UI/UX improvements. I authored or contributed to 24 pull requests, reviewed 82 pull requests, and created 6 issues, many of which were resolved or are part of ongoing efforts such as end-to-end notification testing ([#11908](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/issues/11908)) and rate limiting ([#11721](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/issues/11721)).
+During my time this summer with Submitty, I contributed to the large-scale open-source academic platform, focusing on full-stack development, infrastructure modernization, and system security. This experience deepened my technical skills across frontend and backend technologies while expanding my understanding of systems design, type safety, and automated testing.
 
-My contributions spanned the full tech stack, including the frontend (HTML/CSS, JavaScript/TypeScript, Twig, Vue.js), backend (PHP), build systems (Bash), autograding infrastructure (Python, C++), and system testing (Cypress).
+Beyond implementation work, I gained valuable experience in collaborative development by engaging in design discussions, reviewing code at scale, and helping shape practices that prioritize maintainability and reliability. These efforts strengthened my ability to think critically about long-term engineering impact in a complex, highly impactful codebase. The following sections highlight some of the most rewarding features I had the opportunity to work on this summer.
 
 ### WebSocket Security & Testing
 
-I worked on addressing a critical security flaw in the platform's WebSocket server by implementing a token-based authorization system ([#11634](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11634)). Previously, any user with a direct URL and valid login credentials could access any WebSocket page they were not authorized to view, posing a considerable security risk, especially for features like Grade Inquiry.
+I addressed a critical security flaw in the platform's WebSocket server by implementing a token-based authorization system ([#11634](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11634)). Previously, any user with a direct URL and valid login credentials could access any WebSocket page, posing a considerable risk for real-time student-instructor communications.
 
-To mitigate this, I designed and integrated a JSON Web Token (JWT)–based authorization layer. The web server now generates short-lived, multi-use tokens that grant access only to specific WebSocket pages. Each token explicitly scopes access per page, ensuring that all WebSocket connections are properly authenticated and secure. Authorized pages are valid for five minutes, and stale entries are discarded using a sliding window mechanism to maintain a minimal, up-to-date permission set.
+To resolve this, I designed a JSON Web Token (JWT)–based authorization layer, where the web server now generates short-lived, multi-use tokens scoped to specific pages. Each token ensures that WebSocket connections are established by authorized users, with permissions managed using a sliding window mechanism to handle expired pages.
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ To mitigate this, I designed and integrated a JSON Web Token (JWT)–based autho
 }
 ```
 
-Additionally, I established the first Websocket end-to-end test suite for the Discussion Forum ([#11873](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11873)), which relies heavily on WebSocket communication, to set the foundation for catching potential protocol-level issues in the future. Building on that to verify the correctness of the authorization system above, I developed a comprehensive testing strategy, including PHP unit tests for backend logic and updating existing Cypress tests to verify that required WebSocket connections for authorized pages were successful.
+In parallel, I introduced the first end-to-end test suite for WebSockets in the Discussion Forum ([#11873](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11873)). I expanded this with a comprehensive testing strategy that included PHP unit tests for backend logic and updates to Cypress tests to verify authorization-based WebSocket connections.
 
 <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 100%; margin: auto;">
   <img src="../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Jeffrey_Cordero/cypress-websocket-testing-example.png" alt="Cypress WebSocket Testing" />
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Additionally, I established the first Websocket end-to-end test suite for the Di
 
 ### Notification System Enhancements
 
-To provide students with timely and relevant updates, I implemented major enhancements to the platform’s notification system. I developed a feature that automatically alerts students via the platform and emails when grades are released ([#10358](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/10358)) or when new assignments become available for submission ([#11897](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11897)). These notifications are generated by a reliable, hourly cron job that efficiently processes and dispatches all pending messages for active courses throughout the semester.
+To improve student communication, I implemented significant enhancements to the platform’s notification system, including automatically alerting students via in-platform notifications and email when grades are released ([#10358](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/10358)) or when new assignments become available ([#11897](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11897)). These notifications are delivered by a reliable, hourly cron job that dispatches pending messages across all active courses.
 
 ```
 [Submitty sample] Grade Released: Grading Homework PDF
@@ -53,15 +53,15 @@ Please refer to the course syllabus for contact information for your teaching st
 Update your email notification settings for this course here: http://localhost:1511/courses/s25/sample/notifications/settings
 ```
 
-To support these new features and enhance overall system reliability, I built a dedicated Cypress testing suite for emails  ([#11878](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11878)) and notification preferences ([#11913](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11913)). These tests verify the functionality of the user settings page, email status page, and key user interactions, establishing a solid foundation for future notification-related testing.
+To support these improvements, I also built dedicated Cypress test suites for email delivery ([#11878](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11878)) and user notification preferences ([#11913](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11913)). These tests validate key user flows, such as editing preferences and verifying delivery status, laying the groundwork for future testing around user communications.
 
 <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 100%; margin: auto;">
   <img src="../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Jeffrey_Cordero/cypress-notifications-testing-example.png" alt="Cypress Notification Testing" />
 </div>
 
 ### Rainbow Grades Nightly Build
 
-I resolved a key issue with the Rainbow Grades summary page, where student grade reports could become stale and outdated unless manually refreshed by an instructor. To eliminate this manual step, I augmented the nightly grade summaries generation script to automatically update the Rainbow Grades customization file and submit the build process before generating new summaries for active courses ([#11496](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11496)). As a result, students now have uninterrupted access to up-to-date grade reports daily.
+Previously, the Rainbow Grades summary page could become outdated unless instructors manually triggered a rebuild. To streamline this process, I enhanced the nightly summary generation script to automatically update the instructor customization file and submit the build process before generating new summaries ([#11496](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11496)), ensuring students now have continuous access to the most up-to-date grade reports.
 
 ```bash
 $ python3 sbin/generate_grade_summaries.py f25 sample submitty_daemon
@@ -72,14 +72,5 @@ Successfully generated grade summaries for f25.sample
 ```
 
 <div style="text-align: center; max-width: 100%; margin: auto;">
-  <img src="../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Jeffrey_Cordero/rainbow-grades-nightly-build.png" alt="Cypress Notification Testing" />
+  <img src="../../../images/RCOS_report/2025_Jeffrey_Cordero/rainbow-grades-nightly-build.png" alt="Rainbow Grades Nightly Build" />
 </div>
-
-
-### Codebase Modernization & System Reliability
-
-I led multiple initiatives to modernize the codebase and strengthen the platform’s operational stability. I integrated `vue-tsc` into the frontend build process ([#11868](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11868)), introducing strict TypeScript type-checking that allows the CI/CD pipeline to catch type errors before they reach production, which is an essential safeguard when reviewing type-related dependency updates. I also managed and debugged several critical library upgrades, including major version bumps for packages like `pdfjs-dist` ([#11013](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11013)) and `mermaid` ([#11769](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11769), [#11829](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11829)), implementing targeted workarounds for breaking changes to maintain system security and runtime stability.
-
-Beyond implementation, I played a key role in system design discussions and code reviews for high-impact pull requests, including infrastructure upgrades, Vue.js migrations, and backend refactors. My reviews focused on maintaining code quality, ensuring reliable integration of dependencies, and promoting sustainable engineering practices that support long-term system stability and developer efficiency.
-
-Additionally, to improve system resilience, I enhanced the hourly system-repair cron job, which restores core services such as the WebSocket server, to automatically recover the autograding infrastructure after a server outage, intelligently repairing all local and remote components ([#11707](https://github.com/Submitty/Submitty/pull/11707)).