Minimize workflow complexity

Keep GitHub Actions workflows efficient and maintainable by eliminating redundant configurations and ensuring comprehensive test coverage: 1. **Avoid redundant environment variables** - Use the minimum number of variables needed to achieve your workflow goals. When one variable can be derived from another, don't store both.

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Keep GitHub Actions workflows efficient and maintainable by eliminating redundant configurations and ensuring comprehensive test coverage:

  1. Avoid redundant environment variables - Use the minimum number of variables needed to achieve your workflow goals. When one variable can be derived from another, don’t store both.

Example refactoring:

# Not recommended
- name: Filter files
  run: |
    YAML_JSON_FILES=$(echo $ | grep -E '\.ya?ml$|\.json$')
    echo "YAML_JSON_FILES=$YAML_JSON_FILES" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
    echo "RELEVANT_FILES_CHANGED=true" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"

# Recommended
- name: Filter files
  run: |
    YAML_JSON_FILES=$(echo $ | grep -E '\.ya?ml$|\.json$')
    echo "YAML_JSON_FILES=$YAML_JSON_FILES" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
    
- name: Next step
  if: env.YAML_JSON_FILES != ''
  # Use YAML_JSON_FILES directly instead of a redundant flag
  1. Define comprehensive test matrices - Ensure matrix strategies include all relevant versions of languages, tools, or environments needed for thorough testing.
# Not recommended
strategy:
  matrix:
    python: ["3.8"]  # Incomplete coverage

# Recommended
strategy:
  matrix:
    python: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11"]  # Complete coverage

Keeping workflows streamlined improves maintainability, reduces debugging time, and makes your CI processes more reliable.

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