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How to mock a fallback return value in Python
Test a function that returns a default value on failure by mocking requests.get and its side effects.
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
import requests
def fetch_data(url, default=None):
try:
response = requests.get(url)
response.raise_for_status()
return response.json()
except (requests.RequestException, ValueError):
return default
with patch("requests.get") as mock_get:
…
How to retry idempotent operations with a mock in Python
Wrap a flaky idempotent operation in a retry loop with exponential backoff, and use unittest.mock to deterministically test the str's behavior.
import random
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock
def idempotent_operation(value):
"""Simulate an idempotent operation that sometimes fails."""
if random.random() < 0.6: # 60% failure rate
raise ConnectionError("Temporary failure")
return value * 2
def retry_with_backoff(operation, max_…
Mock Distributed Rate Limiter with Dict in Python
Simulates a distributed token-bucket rate limiter with a thread-safe dict, useful for testing before moving to Redis.
import time
import threading
from collections import defaultdict
class DistributedRateLimiter:
"""
A mock distributed rate limiter using a dict with thread-safe access.
Implements a token bucket algorithm per user.
"""
def __init__(self, rate_per_second=5, burst_capacity=10):
self.rate_p…
Mock a Two-Phase Commit Coordinator in Python
Simulates a two-phase commit protocol where a coordinator asks participants to prepare, then commits or aborts based on unanimous readiness.
import random
import time
from typing import Dict, List
class TwoPhaseCommitCoordinator:
def __init__(self, participants: List[str]):
self.participants = participants
self.participant_state: Dict[str, bool] = {}
def prepare(self) -> bool:
print("[Coordinator] Phase 1: Prepare")
…
Rate Limit per User ID in Python with a Dict Mock
Implements a simple sliding window rate limiter using a defaultdict of timestamps per user ID, blocking requests that exceed a max count within a time window.
import time
from collections import defaultdict
class RateLimiter:
def __init__(self, max_requests, window_seconds):
self.max_requests = max_requests
self.window_seconds = window_seconds
self.user_timestamps = defaultdict(list)
def allow_request(self, user_id):
now = time.tim…
Saga Compensating Transaction Mock in Python
Simulates a distributed transaction using a saga pattern with compensating actions that roll back steps on failure.
import random
import time
class OrderService:
def __init__(self):
self.orders = {}
def create_order(self, order_id):
print(f"[Order] Creating order {order_id}...")
time.sleep(0.1)
if random.random() < 0.3: # 30% chance of failure
raise RuntimeError(f"Order {order…
Calculate Error Rate from Log Stream in Python
Parses a mock log stream to count errors and compute the error percentage using a rolling window of recent entries.
import re
from collections import deque
def error_rate_from_log_stream(message):
log_pattern = r'^\[(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2})\] (ERROR|INFO|DEBUG): (.*)$'
recent_entries = deque(maxlen=100)
error_count = 0
total_count = 0
for line in message.strip().split('\n'):
match = re.mat…
Export Metrics with OTLP Mock in Python
Simulates system metric collection and exports them as an OTLP-like JSON payload using only Python's standard library.
from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict
import json
import random
import time
@dataclass
class Metric:
name: str
value: float
timestamp: int
unit: str = "1"
def collect_system_metrics() -> list[Metric]:
"""Mock metric collection for OTLP export simulation."""
now = int(time.time())
re…
Generate Mock CPU and Memory Metrics in Python
Build a mock_host_metrics() generator that outputs realistic CPU and memory usage percentages for monitoring demos and tests.
import time
import random
def mock_host_metrics():
"""Generate mock CPU and memory metrics for a host."""
cpu_percent = round(random.uniform(10.0, 95.0), 1)
memory_percent = round(random.uniform(20.0, 90.0), 1)
memory_used_mb = round(random.uniform(512, 8192), 1)
return {
"timestamp": in…
Generate Prometheus Text Exposition Format in Python
Mock a Prometheus metrics endpoint by formatting metrics into the text exposition format with HELP, TYPE, and sample lines.
import time
from random import randint
# Mock a Prometheus metrics endpoint output
metrics = {
"http_requests_total": {
"help": "Total number of HTTP requests",
"type": "counter",
"samples": [
{"labels": {"method": "get", "code": "200"}, "value": randint(1000, 9999)},
…
How to Add Metadata Attributes to a Span in Python
Create a lightweight dataclass-based Span mock that stores key-value metadata attributes for tracing or event logging.
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from typing import Dict, Any
@dataclass
class Span:
name: str
attributes: Dict[str, Any] = field(default_factory=dict)
def set_attribute(self, key: str, value: Any) -> None:
self.attributes[key] = value
def get_attribute(self, key: str) -> Any…
How to Build a Python Latency Histogram with Mock Buckets
This code implements a mock latency histogram that records request durations into configurable buckets and outputs counts, total, and average latency.
import time
import random
from collections import Counter
class LatencyHistogram:
def __init__(self, buckets):
self.buckets = sorted(buckets)
self.counts = Counter()
self.total = 0
self.sum_latency = 0
def record(self, latency_ms):
for i, boundary in enumerate(self.bu…
How to Calculate Percentile Latency in Python
Generate mock latency samples with occasional spikes and compute 50th, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentile values in milliseconds.
import random
import statistics
def generate_latency_samples(n=1000):
"""Generate realistic mock latency data (ms) with occasional spikes."""
samples = []
for _ in range(n):
# Normal case: ~50ms with jitter
base = random.gauss(50, 5)
# 2% spike chance: slow downstream or GC pause
…
How to Calculate SLO Error Budget in Python
Simulate an SLO error budget by computing allowed downtime from a target availability percentage and mocking monthly incidents.
```python
import random
def calculate_error_budget(total_seconds: int, target_availability: float) -> float:
return (1.0 - target_availability) * total_seconds
def simulate_monthly_availability(seconds_in_month: int, budget_seconds: float) -> float:
# Mock: randomly consume a fraction of the error budget i…
How to Check Service Readiness Dependencies in Python
This code simulates a readiness check for external dependencies (database, cache, queue) with mock availability data and reports readiness status.
import sys
from datetime import datetime
def check_dependencies(config):
results = []
for dep, required in config.items():
available = mock_availability(dep)
status = "READY" if available >= required else "NOT READY"
results.append((dep, available, required, status))
return result…
How to Check Uptime with a Synthetic HTTP Mock in Python
Run a mock HTTP server locally and probe it with urllib to measure synthetic uptime and response times, perfect for testing monitoring logic without external dependencies.
import http.server
import threading
import time
import urllib.request
class MockHandler(http.server.BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
def do_GET(self):
if self.path == "/health":
self.send_response(200)
self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
self.end_headers()
…
How to Create a Deep Health Check Database in Python
Setup a SQLite-backed health check database, insert mock data with response times and statuses, and generate a report ordered by most recent check.
import sqlite3
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from pathlib import Path
DB_PATH = Path("deep_health_check.db")
def setup_database():
conn = sqlite3.connect(DB_PATH)
cursor = conn.cursor()
cursor.execute("""
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS health_checks (
id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AU…
How to Create a Mock OpenTelemetry Trace in Python
Create a mock OpenTelemetry trace in memory to test span creation, attributes, and parent-child relationships without exporting to a backend.
from opentelemetry import trace
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export.in_memory_span_exporter import InMemorySpanExporter
def create_mock_trace():
tracer_provider = TracerProvider()
span_exporter =…
How to Create a StatsD UDP Metric Mock Server in Python
Run a lightweight mock UDP server that captures StatsD metrics over a short window for local testing.
import socket
import threading
import time
def start_mock_statsd_server(host="127.0.0.1", port=8125, timeout=3):
"""Run a mock StatsD UDP server that captures metrics for a short window."""
sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
sock.bind((host, port))
sock.settimeout(timeout)
me…
How to Create a TCP DNS Mock Server in Python
This code creates a mock TCP DNS server that listens on a specified port, accepts probe connections, and returns a fixed DNS response header to simulate a live DNS service for testing and observability.
import socket
import threading
def handle_client(client_socket, address):
print(f"[+] Connection from {address}")
try:
while True:
data = client_socket.recv(1024)
if not data:
break
print(f"[*] Received {len(data)} bytes (TCP DNS probe)")
…
How to Generate and Propagate W3C Trace Context Headers in Python
Generate and propagate W3C traceparent and tracestate headers for distributed tracing in Python, with mock service headers.
import uuid
def generate_w3c_traceparent(trace_id=None, parent_id=None, flags="01"):
if trace_id is None:
trace_id = uuid.uuid4().hex[:32]
if parent_id is None:
parent_id = uuid.uuid4().hex[:16]
return f"00-{trace_id}-{parent_id}-{flags}"
def create_mock_headers(service_name, trace_id=N…
How to Implement an Error Budget Policy in Python
This code implements a mock error budget policy that decides whether to freeze deployments based on a simulated error rate and monthly freeze limits.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
class ErrorBudgetPolicy:
FREEZE_WINDOW_HOURS = 24
MAX_FREEZES_PER_MONTH = 3
def __init__(self, budget_percentage=99.9):
self.budget_percentage = budget_percentage
self.freeze_count = 0
self.last_freeze_start = None
self.freeze_enabl…
How to Link Parent and Child Span Elements in Python
This code defines a lightweight mock element class and a function that links child elements to a parent when their ranges are nested within the parent's range.
class MockElement:
def __init__(self, name, start, end, children=None):
self.name = name
self.start = start
self.end = end
self.children = children or []
def __repr__(self):
return f"MockElement({self.name}, {self.start}-{self.end})"
def link_parent_child(parent, chil…
How to Mock Database Query Duration in Python
Simulate realistic database query durations with random jitter for testing dashboards, alerts, and SLO calculations.
import random
import time
def mock_query_duration(db_name, avg_ms, jitter_ms=5, runs=3):
"""Simulate database query durations with realistic variation."""
durations = []
for _ in range(runs):
# Base duration plus random jitter (can be negative)
duration = avg_ms + random.uniform(-jitter_m…
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