S&P 500 Weekly Competition on Trade2Win

SP500 Competition is a weekly contest that is currently run on a thread in the forum. You can access the latest build here.

Table of Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Installation and Setup
3. Usage
4. Database Migrations
5. Logging
6. Scripts
7. Hosting and Deployment
8. Testing
9. FAQs
10. Contributing
11. License
12. Acknowledgments

Project Overview

SP500 Competition is a weekly contest that is currently run on a thread in the forum. You can access the latest build here.

This project uses Express.js for the server-side, EJS for the view engine and Prisma as the ORM for PostgreSQL. We use the Yahoo Finance API to fetch data. The application is hosted on Heroku.

Installation and Setup

Prerequisites

• Node.js v14 or later
• PostgreSQL v13 or later
• API keys for [list services]

Installation

Install the required packages using npm:

npm install

Setup

Setting up the correct environment variables is crucial for running the application smoothly. Here are some of the necessary variables you need to define in the .env file in the root folder:

• DATABASE_URL: Connection string for your PostgreSQL database
• `SENDGRID_API_KEY``: API key supplied by SendGrid

Usage

To run the application in a development environment:

npm run dev

To run the application in a production environment:

npm run start

Database Migrations

We're using Prisma for our database migrations. Here's how you can create and apply your migrations:

npm run migrate:dev     // to create a new migration
npm run migrate:deploy  // to apply the migration

Logging

This application uses Winston as its logging library, which provides a simple and configurable way to control logging levels, output formats and more. All logs in the development environment are printed to the console for ease of debugging.

In the production environment, we use Papertrail for log management. Papertrail provides a powerful interface for managing and understanding logs from different sources, making it easier to diagnose and fix issues.

Scripts

Make sure you are running any script in the /scripts folder from the root directory of your project. If you're running it from within a sub-directory, the path to the .env file will be incorrect and the environment variables won't be loaded.

Weekly Leaderboard Update

We have a script, weeklyScores.js, that updates the leaderboard once a week. This script is designed to be run by Heroku Scheduler, but it can also be run manually if necessary.

To run the script manually:

node scripts/weeklyScores.js

To set up the script to run automatically using Heroku Scheduler:

1. Navigate to the Heroku dashboard, select your application, and then select "Scheduler" under "Installed add-ons".
2. Click on "Add new job".
3. In the task field, enter node scripts/weeklyScores.js.
4. In the frequency field, select "Every day at..." and choose 9:30pm UTC (the script itself checks that the current day is Friday before proceeding).
5. Click on "Save Job".

This will ensure the leaderboard is updated once a week on Friday.

Hosting and Deployment

The application is hosted on Heroku and uses the PostgreSQL add-on for the database. The Procfile includes instructions for running migrations and seeding the database whenever a new release is deployed:

release: npx prisma migrate deploy && node database/seed.js
web: npm start

Testing

To run the automated tests, use the following command:

npm test

FAQs

What is the SP500 Competition?

The SP500 Competition is a weekly forecasting competition focused on predicting the S&P 500 index. Participants submit their predictions, and the results are updated weekly.

How can I discuss the current contest?

You can participate by visiting the competition thread.

How is the leaderboard updated?

The leaderboard is updated once a week on Friday. The update is done by a script (weeklyScores.js) designed to be run by Heroku Scheduler or manually.

How can I contribute to the project?

Please read the Contributing section for detailed information on how you can contribute to this project.

To-Do List

Please read the Tasks Simple List

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For major changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change. Please make sure to update tests as appropriate. Questions? Email us at support@trade2win.com.

License

MIT

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to @Atilla who's helped greatly with the handover of the competition, ensuring a smooth transition and continued success. Your support and guidance have been invaluable.