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How to Validate Function Arguments in Python
Shows how to manually check argument types and values in a Python function, raising clear TypeError and ValueError messages.
def calculate_area(length: float, width: float) -> float:
"""Calculate the area of a rectangle with manual type validation."""
if not isinstance(length, (int, float)) or isinstance(length, bool):
raise TypeError(f"length must be a number, got {type(length).__name__}")
if not isinstance(width, (int,…How to Raise a Custom Exception with Extra Context in Python
Define a custom exception that carries extra context fields and raise it to provide richer error information.
class InsufficientFundsError(Exception):
def __init__(self, balance, amount):
self.balance = balance
self.amount = amount
super().__init__(f"Withdrawal of ${amount} failed: balance ${balance} is insufficient")
def withdraw(balance, amount):
if amount > balance:
raise Insuffici…How to Use Optional Return in Python Instead of Raising Exceptions
A Python function returns None for missing dictionary keys instead of raising KeyError, enabling graceful lookup handling with type hints.
from typing import Optional
def find_user(users: dict, user_id: int) -> Optional[dict]:
"""
Look up a user by ID. Returns the user dict if found,
otherwise returns None instead of raising KeyError.
"""
return users.get(user_id)
def main() -> None:
users = {
1: {"name": "Alice", "ema…How to Validate an Email Address and Raise ValueError in Python
This code defines a validate_email function that checks an email address against a regex pattern and several rules, raising ValueError with a specific reason when invalid.
import re
def validate_email(email: str) -> str:
"""Validate an email address and return it if valid, otherwise raise ValueError."""
if not isinstance(email, str):
raise ValueError("Email must be a string")
if len(email) > 254:
raise ValueError("Email length exceeds 254 characters")
#…How to check for None and raise helpful errors in Python
A defensive function that explicitly validates data, keys, and values — raising descriptive ValueError and KeyError exceptions before returning a result.
def get_value(data, key):
if data is None:
raise ValueError("data cannot be None")
if key not in data:
raise KeyError(f"key '{key}' not found in data")
result = data[key]
if result is None:
raise ValueError(f"value for key '{key}' is None")
return result
if __name__ == "__…Validate dataclass fields with __post_init__ in Python
Add custom validation to a Python dataclass inside __post_init__, raising ValueError or TypeError for invalid field values.
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import Optional
@dataclass
class Product:
name: str
price: float
quantity: int = 1
category: Optional[str] = None
def __post_init__(self):
if not self.name or not isinstance(self.name, str):
raise ValueError("name must be a…How to Write a Fast Smoke Test for a Critical Path in Python
A quick smoke test that validates the /health critical path executes fast enough, raising errors on wrong paths or slow responses.
import time
def smoke_test(path):
if path != "/health":
raise ValueError("Critical path expected /health")
start = time.perf_counter()
# Simulate the critical health check work
time.sleep(0.01)
elapsed = time.perf_counter() - start
if elapsed > 0.05:
raise RuntimeError("Health …Retry idempotent GET requests in Python
A Python function that retries an idempotent GET request a fixed number of times with a delay between attempts, raising a RuntimeError only after all retries fail.
import time
import urllib.error
import urllib.request
from http.client import HTTPException
def fetch_with_retry(url, max_retries=3, delay=1.0):
for attempt in range(1, max_retries + 1):
try:
with urllib.request.urlopen(url, timeout=5) as response:
return response.read().decode…Fetch Secrets from a Mock Secrets Manager in Python
Build a minimal in-memory secrets manager that stores and retrieves secret values, raising a KeyError for missing names.
import json
class SecretsManager:
"""Mock secrets manager that returns secrets from a local store."""
def __init__(self, store=None):
self.store = store or {
"api_key": "mock-api-key-123",
"db_password": "s3cret-p@ss",
"jwt_secret": "dev-only-secret"
}
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Samples vs tutorials and challenges
Samples are quick reference — one concept per page. For step-by-step teaching, use our Python tutorials. To test yourself, try quizzes or coding challenges. Clean up style with the Python formatter.