chore: merging dev changes to main branch

[Roopan-Microsoft]

Purpose

• This pull request introduces several improvements to CI/CD automation and code quality enforcement for the project. The main changes include the addition of a comprehensive Azure deployment validation workflow, enhancements to the Docker build and push workflow to better handle branch and event logic, the introduction of a Python linting workflow, and the setup of configuration files for Flake8 and Dependabot. These updates collectively improve deployment reliability, code quality, and dependency management.

CI/CD Pipeline Enhancements:

• Added a new GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml) to automate and validate Azure deployments, including quota checks, resource group management, notifications, and cleanup/purging of resources after deployment.
• Improved the Docker build and push workflow (.github/workflows/docker-build-and-push.yml) by refining branch and event logic for Azure Container Registry login and Docker image pushing, and by handling registry output variables more robustly. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Code Quality and Dependency Management:

• Added a new GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/pylint.yml) to run Flake8-based linting on Python code for improved code quality enforcement.
• Introduced a Flake8 configuration file (.flake8) to standardize Python linting rules and exclusions across the project.
• Added a Dependabot configuration file (.github/dependabot.yml) to automate and group dependency updates for npm, pip, and GitHub Actions ecosystems.

Does this introduce a breaking change?

• Yes
• No

Golden Path Validation

• I have tested the primary workflows (the "golden path") to ensure they function correctly without errors.

Deployment Validation

• I have validated the deployment process successfully and all services are running as expected with this change.

What to Check

Verify that the following are valid

• ...

Other Information

[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 1.0.0 🎉

The release is available on GitHub release

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