BreedCheckerService Microservice

ℹ️ Overview

BreedCheckerService is a ZeroMQ-based Python microservice that provides information about various cat and dog breeds. It listens on TCP port 5555 and responds to serialized requests using Python's pickle module.

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📡 Communication Contract

This microservice accepts two types of requests:

1. Request breed details by class ID

request = {"class": 0}

2. Request the full list of breeds

request = {"list": ""}

All requests must be serialized using pickle and sent over a ZeroMQ REQ socket.

✅ How to Programmatically REQUEST Data

Example: Request breed info for class ID 0

import zmq
import pickle

context = zmq.Context()
socket = context.socket(zmq.REQ)
socket.connect("tcp://localhost:5555")

request = {"class": 0}
socket.send(pickle.dumps(request))

Example: Request breed list

request = {"list": ""}
socket.send(pickle.dumps(request))

⬇️ How to Programmatically RECEIVE Data

Example: Receive and decode the response

response = pickle.loads(socket.recv())
print(response)

Expected output:

{
  "species": "Cat",
  "breed": "Abyssinian",
  "description": "The Abyssinian is a medium-sized cat with a lean, muscular body and a short coat, known for being extremely active and playful.",
  "link": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abyssinian"
}

📊 UML Sequence Diagram that shows how client and microservice interact

The diagram below illustrates the interaction between the client and the BreedCheckerService microservice

🔨 Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• ZeroMQ (pyzmq library)
• pickle library (standard in Python)

Installation

pip install pyzmq

Running Microservice

python BreedCheckerService.py

Writing Your Own CLient

You must write your own client code to interact with the microservice using the communication contract above. Do not rely on the test program provided.

Notes

• The microservice and client are decoupled and communicate only via ZeroMQ sockets.
• All data is serialized using pickle. Ensure both sides use compatible Python versions.