# Enhancement: Improve Development Environment Reliability and Maintainability

[IVedantD]

Changes Made

1. Dockerfile improvements:

   • Added SHA256 hash for base image version pinning
   • Added proper version pinning for R packages (languageserver 0.3.15, httpgd 1.3.1)
   • Added apt cache cleanup
   • Properly utilized CONTAINER_VERSION with metadata labels
   • Added cleanup commands after package installations

2. CMake installation script improvements:

   • Added version existence check before attempting installation
   • Added timeout and retry logic for downloads (3 retries, 10s connect timeout)
   • Added file existence verification
   • Added installation verification
   • Improved error handling and logging

3. Environment configuration improvements:

   • Created a comprehensive .gitignore file covering:
     • R-specific files and directories
     • Compiled files
     • Package-specific files
     • IDE-specific files
     • Build and dependency directories
     • System-specific files
     • Docker-specific files
     • Temporary files

Benefits

• Improved build reproducibility through version pinning
• Better error handling and reliability in CMake installation
• Optimized container size through proper cleanup
• More comprehensive environment configuration
• Enhanced development experience overall

Testing Done

• Verified Docker build completes successfully
• Tested CMake installation with retry logic
• Confirmed R package installations work with version pinning
• Validated .gitignore patterns

Related Issue

Closes #213