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How to Wait for the First Future to Complete in Python
Use concurrent.futures.wait with FIRST_COMPLETED to pause until any task finishes and inspect the remaining pending futures.
import concurrent.futures
import time
def task(name, delay):
time.sleep(delay)
return f"{name} done"
if __name__ == "__main__":
with concurrent.futures.ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as executor:
futures = [
executor.submit(task, "task1", 2),
executor.submit(task, "ta…How to set a timeout with asyncio.wait_for in Python
Use asyncio.wait_for to bound an async function with a timeout, catching TimeoutError when it exceeds the limit.
import asyncio
async def slow_task():
await asyncio.sleep(3)
return "finished"
async def main():
try:
result = await asyncio.wait_for(slow_task(), timeout=1)
print(result)
except asyncio.TimeoutError:
print("Task timed out")
if __name__ == "__main__":
asyncio.run(main())How to spawn multiple worker processes in Python with multiprocessing.Process
Spawns three separate worker processes using multiprocessing.Process, runs them concurrently, and waits for all to finish before printing a completion message.
import multiprocessing
import time
def worker(name):
print(f"Worker {name} started")
time.sleep(1)
print(f"Worker {name} finished")
return name
if __name__ == "__main__":
processes = []
for i in range(3):
p = multiprocessing.Process(target=worker, args=(i,))
processes.append(p…How to start, join, and make daemon threads in Python
Starts one daemon and one non-daemon thread, joins the non-daemon thread, and shows how daemon threads exit when the main program ends.
import threading
import time
import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(threadName)s: %(message)s")
def worker(name, delay):
for i in range(3):
time.sleep(delay)
logging.info(f"{name} step {i}")
if __name__ == "__main__":
daemon_thread = threading.Thread(
target…How to use ThreadPoolExecutor for concurrent tasks in Python
Run blocking functions in parallel with ThreadPoolExecutor and as_completed, cutting total runtime from 5 sequential sleeps to about 1 second.
import time
from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
def fetch_data(item):
"""Simulate a slow operation with a fixed delay."""
time.sleep(0.2)
return item * 2
def main():
items = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
start = time.perf_counter()
with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=3) as ex…asyncio sleep cooperative scheduling demo in Python
This demo shows how asyncio.sleep yields control between concurrent tasks, letting multiple workers interleave their ticks.
import asyncio
async def worker(name, delay):
for i in range(3):
print(f"{name}: tick {i}")
await asyncio.sleep(delay)
return f"{name} done"
async def main():
tasks = [
asyncio.create_task(worker("A", 0.1)),
asyncio.create_task(worker("B", 0.2)),
asyncio.create_tas…How to Assert Exceptions in Python with pytest.raises
Use pytest.raises as a context manager to assert that a function raises an expected exception and inspect its message in pytest tests.
import pytest
def divide(a, b):
if b == 0:
raise ValueError("Cannot divide by zero")
return a / b
def test_divide_by_zero():
with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
divide(10, 0)
assert str(exc_info.value) == "Cannot divide by zero"
assert "zero" in str(exc_info.value)
def te…How to Capture Logging Records with pytest caplog in Python
Capture and assert on logging records in pytest using the built-in caplog fixture.
import logging
import pytest
def divide(a, b):
"""Divide two numbers and log an error if b is zero."""
if b == 0:
logging.error("Division by zero attempted")
return None
logging.info(f"Dividing {a} by {b}")
return a / b
def test_divide_logs_error(caplog):
with caplog.at_level(logg…How to Compare Files and Show a Diff in Python
Compare two text files and print a unified diff using Python's difflib module to highlight differences.
import difflib
from pathlib import Path
def compare_files(expected_path: str, actual_path: str) -> str:
"""Compare two text files and return a unified diff."""
expected = Path(expected_path).read_text()
actual = Path(actual_path).read_text()
diff = difflib.unified_diff(
expected.splitlines(ke…How to Compare Floats in pytest with approx
Uses pytest.approx to compare floating-point numbers with tolerance, avoiding precision issues.
import pytest
def test_float_addition():
result = 0.1 + 0.2
expected = 0.3
assert result == pytest.approx(expected)How to Convert Strings to Types in Python Using TypeVar
A beginner-friendly helper that converts a string to int, float, bool, or str with type hints and graceful failure handling.
from typing import TypeVar, Optional
T = TypeVar("T")
def convert_data(value: str, target_type: type[T]) -> Optional[T]:
"""Convert string value to target type; return None on failure."""
try:
if target_type is int:
return int(value)
elif target_type is float:
return f…How to Filter Data in Python with Type Hints
A reusable filter_data helper uses optional predicates and numeric bounds with modern Python type hints.
from typing import Iterable, TypeVar, Callable, Any
T = TypeVar("T")
def filter_data(
items: Iterable[T],
predicate: Callable[[T], bool] | None = None,
*,
min_value: float | None = None,
max_value: float | None = None,
) -> list[T]:
"""Filter items by predicate and/or numeric bounds."""
r…How to Group Data by Key in Python with Type Hints
Group a list of dictionaries by a specified key using a typed helper function and print a summary of each group.
from typing import Any, Dict, List, TypeVar, Union
T = TypeVar("T")
def group_by(data: List[Dict[str, Any]], key: str) -> Dict[Any, List[Dict[str, Any]]]:
"""Group a list of dictionaries by a given key."""
grouped: Dict[Any, List[Dict[str, Any]]] = {}
for item in data:
value = item.get(key)
…How to Merge TypedDicts in Python
Merge two TypedDict dictionaries with type-aware logic using NotRequired, **kwargs unpacking, and safe key updates.
from typing import TypedDict, NotRequired, merge # hypothetical
class User(TypedDict):
name: str
email: NotRequired[str]
age: NotRequired[int]
def merge_users(base: User, **overrides: User) -> User:
"""Merge two user dicts with typing-aware logic."""
result: User = dict(base)
for key, value …How to Mock open() in Python for Reading File Data
This example shows how to mock Python's built-in open() function using unittest.mock to simulate file reading without touching the disk.
import builtins
from unittest.mock import patch
def read_file_data(filename):
with open(filename, 'r') as f:
return f.read()
def mock_read_data():
fake_data = "This is mocked file content"
class FakeFile:
def __enter__(self):
return self
def __exit__(self, *args):…How to Mock pathlib Path.read_text with mock_open in Python
Mock pathlib.Path.read_text using patch and mock_open to test file-reading code without touching the filesystem.
import pathlib
from unittest.mock import mock_open, patch
def read_config(filepath: pathlib.Path) -> str:
"""Read file content with pathlib."""
return filepath.read_text()
if __name__ == "__main__":
mock_data = "version: 1.0\nname: demo-app"
with patch("pathlib.Path.open", mock_open(read_data=mo…How to Mock requests.get in Python
Mock requests.get with unittest.mock to test code that makes HTTP calls without hitting the network.
import requests
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def fetch_user_data(user_id):
response = requests.get(f"https://api.example.com/users/{user_id}")
return response.json()
def process_user(user_id):
mock_response = Mock()
mock_response.json.return_value = {"id": user_id, "name": "Alice", "age": 30…How to Mock return_value with MagicMock in Python unittest
Use unittest.mock.MagicMock to replace a dependency and set return_value to control what a mocked method returns during unit tests.
import unittest
from unittest.mock import MagicMock
class PaymentGateway:
def charge(self, amount):
raise NotImplementedError
class OrderService:
def __init__(self, gateway):
self.gateway = gateway
def process_order(self, amount):
return self.gateway.charge(amount)
class Test…How to Mock subprocess.run returncode in Python
Simulate subprocess.run return codes in tests with unittest.mock.patch and CompletedProcess.
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch
def run_command(cmd):
result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
return result.returncode
if __name__ == "__main__":
with patch("subprocess.run") as mock_run:
# Simulate a successful command (returncode 0)
mock_run.retu…How to Parametrize pytest Tests with Multiple Input Cases in Python
This code shows how to use pytest's @pytest.mark.parametrize decorator to run the same test function across multiple input-output combinations, checking that an add function behaves correctly for each case.
import pytest
def add(a, b):
return a + b
@pytest.mark.parametrize("a,b,expected", [
(1, 2, 3),
(5, 5, 10),
(-1, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 0),
(10, -3, 7),
])
def test_add(a, b, expected):
assert add(a, b) == expected
if __name__ == "__main__":
pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])How to Parse Data with Type Hints in Python
A beginner-friendly helper that parses simple dictionary- or list-like strings into typed Python structures using modern typing annotations.
from typing import Any, Dict, List, Union
def parse_data(raw: str) -> Union[Dict[str, Any], List[Any], str]:
"""Parse a simple string into structured data using type hints."""
cleaned = raw.strip()
if not cleaned:
return {}
if cleaned.startswith("{") and cleaned.endswith("}"):
…How to Share Fixtures Across Tests with pytest conftest
Learn how to define pytest fixtures in conftest.py and control their scope (function, module, session) so every test in a directory reuses the same setup and teardown.
import pytest
@pytest.fixture
def sample_data():
"""Simple fixture available to all tests in this directory."""
return {"name": "Alice", "age": 30}
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def session_data():
"""Fixture created once per test session."""
return {"session_id": 12345}
@pytest.fixture(scope="mo…How to Skip Slow Tests with pytest.mark in Python
Use pytest.mark.skip and custom marks like @pytest.mark.slow to skip or deselect slow tests during test runs.
import pytest
import time
def test_fast():
assert 1 + 1 == 2
@pytest.mark.skip(reason="slow test skipped by default")
def test_slow():
time.sleep(5)
assert True
@pytest.mark.slow
def test_marked_slow():
time.sleep(5)
assert True
if __name__ == "__main__":
pytest.main([__file__, "-v", "-…How to Sort Data in Python
Sort sequences with type-safe helpers that handle mixed data with a string fallback.
from typing import Any, TypeVar, Protocol, Sequence, Iterable
T = TypeVar("T")
Comparable = TypeVar("Comparable", bound="Comparable")
class Sortable(Protocol):
def __lt__(self, other: Any) -> bool: ...
S = TypeVar("S", bound=Sortable)
def sort_data(data: Sequence[S], *, reverse: bool = False) -> list[S]:
"…Browse by section
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PythonSkillset code samples are short, focused examples organised by topic and difficulty. Every snippet is server-rendered HTML — readable by search engines and easy to copy. Open any sample, read the notes, copy the code, then press Try in editor to run it in the browser with Pyodide.
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