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Copy-ready Python snippets by topic and difficulty — short, focused, and runnable in the browser editor.
How to Implement Hedged Requests in Python
This code demonstrates a hedged request pattern using threading, which sends duplicate calls and returns the first result that arrives within a timeout.
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock
def hedged_request(call, timeout=0.05):
"""Execute two duplicate calls, return first result within timeout."""
result_container = {}
def run_and_store():
result_container['result'] = call()
result_container['done'] = True
# Simulate slow cal…
Implementing Fallback with Cached Stale Data in Python
This code demonstrates a resilient data-fetching pattern that caches successful responses, falls back to cached data when the external API fails, and returns stale data as a last-resort fallback.
import random
import time
# Simulated cache dictionary: key -> (value, timestamp)
_cache = {}
_CACHE_TTL = 3 # seconds
# Mock data source (simulates an unreliable external API)
def fetch_mock_data(key):
failure = random.random() < 0.4 # 40% chance of failure
if failure:
raise ConnectionError("Mock …
Check if a Timestamp Falls in a Daily Maintenance Window in Python
A small Python function that returns True when a datetime falls inside a daily maintenance window, and a demo printing yes/no for sample timestamps.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from zoneinfo import ZoneInfo
def in_maintenance_window(now: datetime, start_hour: int = 2, duration_hours: int = 4) -> bool:
"""Return True if 'now' falls inside the daily maintenance window."""
day_start = now.replace(hour=start_hour, minute=0, second=0, microsecond…
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 Synthetic CPU Utilization Metrics in Python
Creates realistic time-series CPU utilization samples with timestamps, noise, and output as structured JSON for observability demos and testing.
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
import random
import json
def generate_metric_samples(base_value, noise, count=60, interval_minutes=1):
"""Generate realistic CPU utilization samples for a given time window."""
timestamps = []
values = []
now = datetime.utcnow()
start_time = now - timede…
How to Use Log Levels DEBUG INFO WARNING ERROR in Python
Demonstrates Python's logging levels (DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR) with basicConfig and a logger, showing how severity filtering controls output.
import logging
# Configure a mock logger to demonstrate log levels
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG, format="%(levelname)s: %(message)s")
logger = logging.getLogger("mock_logger")
# Simulate events at each severity level
logger.debug("Detailed diagnostic info")
logger.info("General system operation")
logger.w…
Mocking a Metrics Gauge's set_value Method in Python
Demonstrates using unittest.mock.Mock with wraps to intercept a gauge's set_value call while verifying arguments and preserving real behavior.
from unittest.mock import Mock
class MetricsGauge:
def __init__(self, name):
self.name = name
self.value = 0.0
def set_value(self, new_value):
self.value = float(new_value)
return self.value
# Usage demonstration with a mock
gauge = MetricsGauge("cpu_usage")
gauge_mock = Mock…
How to Demonstrate the Shared Database Antipattern in Python
This code simulates a shared database where multiple services write and read the same SQLite table, illustrating tight coupling and its pitfalls.
import sqlite3
from pathlib import Path
def create_shared_db(db_path: Path) -> None:
"""Mock demonstrating the shared database antipattern where multiple
services access the same database, causing tight coupling."""
conn = sqlite3.connect(db_path)
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("""
CREATE…
How to Implement an Outbox Pattern Mock in Python
This code demonstrates a simple in-memory outbox pattern mock for publishing domain events and tracking pending events until they are marked as published.
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from datetime import datetime
from uuid import uuid4
@dataclass
class DomainEvent:
event_id: str = field(default_factory=lambda: str(uuid4()))
occurred_at: datetime = field(default_factory=datetime.utcnow)
class Outbox:
def __init__(self):
self._events =…
How to Use the Adapter Pattern to Mock a Legacy System in Python
This code demonstrates the Adapter pattern, allowing a modern interface to interact with a legacy system by wrapping its outdated method.
class LegacySystem:
def legacy_method(self, data):
return f"Legacy processed: {data}"
class ModernInterface:
def process(self, data):
raise NotImplementedError
class Adapter(ModernInterface):
def __init__(self, legacy):
self.legacy = legacy
def process(self, data):
re…
How to Explode an Array Column in Python
This code demonstrates a mock explode operation that converts an array column into multiple rows, similar to Spark's explode function.
import json
def explode_array_column(data, column):
"""Mock explode: split array column into multiple rows."""
exploded = []
for row in data:
values = row.get(column, [])
for value in values:
new_row = dict(row)
new_row[column] = value
exploded.append(n…
How to Mock Hive Support in PySpark with unittest.mock
This code demonstrates how to mock Hive support in a PySpark environment using unittest.mock to simulate SQL queries returning fixed data.
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def get_hive_tables(spark):
"""Mock Hive support by returning a fixed list of tables."""
return spark.sql("SHOW TABLES").collect()
class HiveTable:
"""Simple class that mimics a Hive table row."""
def __init__(self, database, tableName):
self.database =…
How to use foreachBatch with a mock sink in PySpark
Demonstrates using Spark Structured Streaming's foreachBatch sink to capture and verify streaming batches by writing them into a custom mock sink object.
from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
from pyspark.sql.functions import col, lit
class MockSink:
def __init__(self):
self.batches = []
def write_batch(self, batch_df, batch_id):
# Collect batch data as list of dicts for verification
records = batch_df.collect()
self.batches…
Skew Join Salting Key in Python (Demo)
Demonstrates skew join salting by expanding a smaller side with salt keys and matching rows on the larger side via random salt assignment.
import random
def skew_join_salting_key(left_df, right_df, salt_range=4):
"""
Demonstrates skew join salting: expand the smaller side with salt keys,
then attach a salt key to each row on the larger side.
Returns a list of (left, right, salt) tuples.
"""
skewed_left = []
for row in left_d…
Z-Order Optimization in Python
A mock concept demonstrating z-order layout optimization by reassigning z-indices based on areas size.
class ZOrderLayout:
"""
Minimal mock for z-order layout optimization using a stacking score.
Elements overlap; higher z_index is drawn on top.
"""
def __init__(self):
self.elements = []
def add_element(self, name, area, z_index):
self.elements.append({"name": name, "area": area…
How to Save and Load PyTorch Model State Dict in Python
This code demonstrates how to save a PyTorch model's state dict to a file and load it back into a new model instance, verifying weights match.
import torch
import torch.nn as nn
class SimpleNet(nn.Module):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.fc1 = nn.Linear(4, 8)
self.fc2 = nn.Linear(8, 2)
def forward(self, x):
x = torch.relu(self.fc1(x))
return self.fc2(x)
if __name__ == "__main__":
model = Simp…
How to do feature selection with VarianceThreshold in Python
This code demonstrates how to use scikit-learn's VarianceThreshold to remove low-variance features from a NumPy array, keeping only those that vary enough to be useful for modeling.
import numpy as np
from sklearn.feature_selection import VarianceThreshold
def main():
# Mock dataset: 4 samples, 5 features
X = np.array([
[0.1, 0.2, 1.0, 1.0, 0.5],
[0.2, 0.2, 0.0, 1.0, 0.4],
[0.1, 0.2, 1.0, 1.0, 0.6],
[0.3, 0.2, 1.0, 0.0, 0.5]
])
# Select features w…
How to Mock Time for Cache TTL Testing in Python
This code demonstrates how to test a cache's TTL expiration logic by mocking time.time with unittest.mock to control the passage of time.
import time
from unittest.mock import patch
class ConfigCache:
def __init__(self, ttl=60):
self.ttl = ttl
self._store = {}
self._timestamps = {}
def get(self, key):
if key not in self._store:
return None
if time.time() - self._timestamps[key] > self.ttl:
…
Hash index equality mock concept in Python
A simple hash index class in Python that stores key-value pairs in buckets and demonstrates basic equality-based lookup.
class HashIndex:
def __init__(self):
self._buckets = {}
def insert(self, key, value):
"""Insert a key-value pair into the hash index."""
index = hash(key) % 10
if index not in self._buckets:
self._buckets[index] = []
self._buckets[index].append((key, value))…
How to Eager Load with JOIN to Reduce N+1 Queries in Python
Demonstrates eager loading with a SQL JOIN to reduce N+1 query patterns down to a single database call when fetching related data.
import sqlite3
def eager_load_join_reduce(mock_db_path=":memory:"):
"""Demonstrate eager loading where joins reduce query count from N+1 to 1."""
conn = sqlite3.connect(mock_db_path)
cursor = conn.cursor()
cursor.executescript(
"""
CREATE TABLE authors (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TE…
How to Implement Read-After-Write Consistency Mock in Python
Simulate strong versus eventual read-after-write consistency with a primary and replica store, demonstrating the difference in data visibility over time.
import time
class MockStorage:
def __init__(self, write_delay=0.1):
self.store = {}
self.replica = {}
self.write_delay = write_delay
def write(self, key, value):
# Write to primary storage immediately
self.store[key] = value
# Simulate async replication delay
…
How to Mock Sticky Session Read-Your-Writes in Python
Simulates a sticky session store that routes reads for a session to the node where the last write occurred, demonstrating read-your-writes consistency.
class StickySessionStore:
def __init__(self):
self.data = {}
self.session_nodes = {}
def write(self, session_id, key, value):
self.data[key] = value
self.session_nodes[session_id] = key
return f"Wrote {key}={value} for session {session_id}"
def read(self, session_i…
Offset vs Keyset Pagination in Python
Demonstrate offset-based pagination and keyset (cursor) pagination with a simple in-memory dataset, showing how each returns pages of records.
"""Demonstrate pagination using offset vs keyset (cursor) approach."""
ITEMS = [
{"id": 1, "name": "Alice"},
{"id": 2, "name": "Bob"},
{"id": 3, "name": "Carol"},
{"id": 4, "name": "David"},
{"id": 5, "name": "Eve"},
]
def offset_paginate(items, page, page_size):
"""Return a page using offset…
Two Phase Commit Cross Shard Mock in Python
Simulates a two-phase commit across shards with failure handling to demonstrate distributed transaction coordination in Python.
"""Mock cross-shard two-phase commit with caution handling."""
class Shard:
def __init__(self, name):
self.name = name
self.prepared = False
self.committed = False
self.aborted = False
def prepare(self):
# Simulate potential failure (1 in 3 chance on third shard)
…
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