README.md

Overview

This is a simple Flask-based web service that helps process summer mowing revenue and expense data to generate a tax-friendly financial report. It supports:

• Uploading transaction data in CSV format via a POST /transactions endpoint.
• Querying the summary of gross revenue, expenses, and net revenue via a GET /report endpoint.

Environment Setup

Prerequistes

1. Python 3.8 or above.
2. pip for package management.

Installation Steps

MacOS and Linux: Use Default Terminal. Windows: Use Git Bash.

1. Open a terminal (T1), clone this repository

   a) If access from Git VCS

   • git clone https://github.com/philcaz/Summer_Break_Test.git

   • cd Summer_Break_Test

   b) If unzip tarball directly, proceed to step 2.

2. Install dependencies

   • pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Run the application

   • python api.py

4. Open a new terminal (T2), test API Endpoints

   • make sure current directory is the same as in T1
   • run ./tests/test.sh

5. Stop the application in T1

   • Ctrl + C

Solution Approach

1. Used Python's builtin csv library for lightweight data parsing
2. Used a global list data to hold in-memory transactions, avoiding persistence for the MVP

Assumptions

1. The CSV data does not have headers Date, Type, Amount($), Memo
2. Type can only be Income or Expense
3. All amounts are in valid numeric formats

Shortcomings

1. Data is stored in memory, which is hard to scale for large datasets
2. Insufficient data quality check, such as for invalid dates and duplicate entries

Improvements if time allowed

1. Connect the application to a database to persist data storage
2. Implement more comprehensive data validation and deduplication
3. Add more detailed reporting such as monthly summaries