bug in logRolling exercise

[javier-solis]

On occasion, the logRolling exercise doesn't automatically detect the change from step 2 to step 3. The state is saved, but the user has to manually refresh the page to visually see that they reached step 3. Likely not caused by the logRolling exercise itself, but gitstream's underlying mechanics.

[javier-solis]

Following a detailed review, the source of the bug appears to be within the logRolling exercise itself, likely due to a concurrency or randomness issue. This aligns with the fact that it occurs intermittently. Experimentation suggests that the issue occurs approximately once every 10-20 attempts, although the exact frequency remains unclear. Attached is a copy of the server terminal output captured when I successfully reproduced the issue (on the praxistutor-integration branch, on Sunday, May 5, 2024). The output includes headers delimiting different stages of assignment progress and covers the period up to the point where the bug occurred. Notably, there are two error messages indicating git failures, which are absent from the normal output.

If you are a staff member of 6.102, you may find the following private Piazza posts helpful in investigating this bug:

• sp24/#334
• sp24/#92 (the user in this post consistently encountered the bug)

Attachments:
output.md