Add comment to "Compile Examples" workflow re: esp8266:esp8266 version

[per1234]

A specific version of the "esp8266" boards platform is installed on the Arduino Cloud servers.

Since that is the primary environment the sketches using this library are compiled in, it is necessary for the "Compile Examples" GitHub Actions workflow to use the same version of the platform when running the test compilations of the library examples in order to ensure the results from the CI system will match those from real usage.

This requirement is not obvious. Since the workflow does not pin the other platform versions (because Arduino Cloud typically uses the latest version), the pinning of this platform specifically might be the source of confusion for the maintainers (e.g., #290). So it is worth documenting the reason.

[pennam]

Hi @per1234,
I've got a related question, we are using the same approach also for esp32 core and server side we are using version 1.0.6, but i dont see the version specified in the compile-examples.yml file

ArduinoIoTCloud/.github/workflows/compile-examples.yml

Line 167 in 31fcfed

# Install ESP32 platform via Boards Manager

should we add it or it is using a different way to select the correct version?

[per1234]

I noticed that while I was preparing this PR. I think pinning it is definitely worth considering.

I think the best approach is to run the compilations in the environment that is expected to exist at the time of the next release of the library. So the current configuration would be appropriate if the plan is to update Arduino Cloud to the latest release of the ESP32 platform before the next release of this library, but otherwise it would be better to pin the ESP32 platform dependency to a specific version as was done for esp8266.

[github-actions]

Memory usage change @ c9e814b

Board	flash	%	RAM for global variables	%
arduino:mbed:envie_m7	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:mbed_nicla:nicla_vision	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:mkr1000	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:mkrgsm1400	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:mkrnb1500	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwan1300	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0
esp8266:esp8266:huzzah	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0	0 - 0	0.0 - 0.0

Click for full report table

Board	examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Advanced flash	%	examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Advanced RAM for global variables	%	examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Basic flash	%	examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Basic RAM for global variables	%	examples/utility/ArduinoIoTCloud_Travis_CI flash	%	examples/utility/ArduinoIoTCloud_Travis_CI RAM for global variables	%	examples/utility/Provisioning flash	%	examples/utility/Provisioning RAM for global variables	%	examples/utility/SelfProvisioning flash	%	examples/utility/SelfProvisioning RAM for global variables	%
arduino:mbed:envie_m7	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:mbed_nicla:nicla_vision	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:mkr1000	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:mkrgsm1400	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:mkrnb1500	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwan1300	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0
esp8266:esp8266:huzzah	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0

Click for full report CSV

Board,examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Advanced<br>flash,%,examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Advanced<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Basic<br>flash,%,examples/ArduinoIoTCloud-Basic<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/utility/ArduinoIoTCloud_Travis_CI<br>flash,%,examples/utility/ArduinoIoTCloud_Travis_CI<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/utility/Provisioning<br>flash,%,examples/utility/Provisioning<br>RAM for global variables,%,examples/utility/SelfProvisioning<br>flash,%,examples/utility/SelfProvisioning<br>RAM for global variables,%
arduino:mbed:envie_m7,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:mbed_nano:nanorp2040connect,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:mbed_nicla:nicla_vision,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,
arduino:samd:mkr1000,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,
arduino:samd:mkrgsm1400,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,
arduino:samd:mkrnb1500,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,
arduino:samd:mkrwan1300,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,,,,,
arduino:samd:mkrwifi1010,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
arduino:samd:nano_33_iot,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0
esp8266:esp8266:huzzah,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,0,0.0,,,,,,,,

[aentinger]

Definitely a good idea to collect this rake before someone steps on it. While I do remember why we are pinned to 2.5.0 I may not always be around or at the right place to answer that question.