Refactor: Migrate to Yarn 4 and Corepack

[jrhoads]

Purpose

This PR updates the project's build and dependency management tooling to leverage Yarn 4 and Corepack. This includes updating the GitHub Actions workflow to use Yarn 4 for dependency installation and building, and implementing a more robust .gitignore to handle Yarn's cache and build artifacts.

Approach

The primary approach involves migrating from Yarn Classic to Yarn 4. This is achieved by:

• Enabling Corepack: Corepack is a tool that comes with Node.js and helps manage package manager versions. It's enabled by default and will automatically install Yarn 4 based on the packageManager field in package.json.
• Updating GitHub Actions Workflow:
  • The checkout action is updated to v6.
  • Corepack is explicitly enabled in the workflow.
  • The setup-node action is updated to v6 and configured to cache dependencies based on yarn.lock.
  • Dependency installation command is changed to yarn install --immutable, which is a Yarn 4 feature for more robust and predictable installations.
  • The build command remains yarn build.
• Updating .gitignore: The .gitignore file is updated to correctly exclude Yarn's cache, build artifacts, and other Yarn-specific files, ensuring these are not committed to the repository.
• Adding .tool-versions: A .tool-versions file is added to explicitly pin the Node.js version to 22, aligning with the version used in the build workflow.
• Adding .yarnrc.yml: A .yarnrc.yml file is introduced to configure Yarn, disabling scripts by default and setting the nodeLinker to node-modules. The npmMinimalAgeGate is also set, which is a standard Yarn 4 configuration.
• Updating README: The README is updated to reflect the new prerequisites (Node.js 22+ with Corepack, Yarn 4) and the updated installation steps.

Key Modifications

• .github/workflows/build_dist_on_merge.yml: Updated to use Yarn 4, Corepack, and immutable installs.
• .gitignore: Modified to include new Yarn-related files and directories.
• .tool-versions: Added to specify the Node.js version.
• .yarnrc.yml: Added to configure Yarn settings.
• README.md: Updated to reflect changes in dependencies and installation steps.
• yarn.lock: Updated to reflect the new dependency resolution for Yarn 4.

Important Technical Details

• Yarn 4: This PR fully adopts Yarn 4, which offers improved performance, caching, and dependency management features like immutable installs.
• Corepack: Leveraged to manage the Node.js package manager versions, ensuring consistency across environments.
• Immutable Installs: The yarn install --immutable command ensures that the yarn.lock file is strictly adhered to, preventing unexpected dependency changes.
• PNPM vs. Yarn: This PR implies a shift from potentially using PNPM to Yarn 4 for dependency management.
• Cache Configuration: The cache: yarn and cache-dependency-path: yarn.lock in setup-node ensure that Yarn's dependencies are cached effectively in the GitHub Actions workflow.

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)

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• Be humble in the language and feedback you give, ask don't tell.
• Consider using positive language as opposed to neutral when offering feedback. This is to avoid the negative bias that can occur with neutral language appearing negative.
• Offer suggestions on how to improve code e.g. simplification or expanding clarity.
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