README

Preparation and Installation

Protocol Buffers

Installation was initiated following the guidelines from Protocol Buffers Installation. Additional insights were gained from the gRPC GitHub repository.

gRPC Libraries for C++

Implemented as per the instructions provided at gRPC C++ Quickstart. Resolved installation issues by referencing grpc/grpc#24660 and addressing common errors such as the missing header file on Stack Overflow.

Testing Framework and Challenges

Transitioned to Google Test for C++ code testing, encountered compatibility issues on ARM64 as detailed in protobuf#5868 and gtest#3208. Due to these challenges, switched to the Catch2 framework for more flexible behavior-driven development (BDD), detailed on Catch2 GitHub.

Build Tools and Execution

Installation with Homebrew:

brew install grpc
brew install abseil
brew install protobuf

Compilation:

Run make in the project directory to compile the applications.

Execution:

• Start the server with ./bin/server.
• Run the client with ./bin/main in a separate terminal to begin data transfer.

Testing:

• Test executables are located in bin/tests.
• Modify the file path in test cases as needed for correct file transfers.
• Run ./bin/tests/client_tests for manual tests or ./bin/tests/catch_tests for Catch2 library tests.

Protocol Buffers Rebuild:

If you need to modify the protocol buffer definitions, rebuild them with:

protoc --grpc_out=. --plugin=protoc-gen-grpc=`which grpc_cpp_plugin` file_exchange.proto
protoc --cpp_out=. file_exchange.proto