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How to Use Literal Type Hints in Python
Use typing.Literal to restrict a function parameter to specific allowed string values and get static type checking.
from typing import Literal
def get_status_message(status: Literal["active", "inactive", "pending"]) -> str:
"""Return a message based on the status value."""
if status == "active":
return "Account is active"
elif status == "inactive":
return "Account is inactive"
else:
return "…How to Validate Data in Python with Typing Hints
Build a runtime validation helper that checks values against Python type hints like Optional, list, and basic types.
from typing import Any, Optional, Union, TypeVar, get_origin, get_args
T = TypeVar("T")
def validate(value: Any, expected_type: type) -> Optional[str]:
"""Returns an error message if value doesn't match expected_type, else None."""
# Handle Optional[...] types
origin = get_origin(expected_type)
if or…How to Write pytest Test Function Assert Equal in Python
Write three pytest test functions that assert the result of an add() function equals an expected numeric value.
import pytest
def add(a, b):
return a + b
def test_add_positive_numbers():
assert add(2, 3) == 5
def test_add_negative_numbers():
assert add(-1, -2) == -3
def test_add_mixed_numbers():
assert add(5, -3) == 2
if __name__ == "__main__":
pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])How to use unittest mock side_effect with a sequence in Python
Demonstrates using Mock.side_effect with a list to return different values per call and raise an exception at a specific call in unittest.
import unittest
from unittest.mock import Mock
class TestMockSideEffectSequence(unittest.TestCase):
def test_side_effect_sequence(self):
mock = Mock()
mock.side_effect = [1, 2, 3, Exception("boom")]
self.assertEqual(mock(), 1)
self.assertEqual(mock(), 2)
self.asser…Mock datetime.now to freeze time in Python
Use unittest.mock.patch to replace datetime.now with a fixed value so your code always sees the same time during tests.
from datetime import datetime
from unittest.mock import patch
def current_message():
now = datetime.now()
return f"Current time: {now:%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S}"
if __name__ == "__main__":
with patch("__main__.datetime") as mock_dt:
mock_dt.now.return_value = datetime(2024, 3, 15, 10, 30, 0)
prin…How to Build a Sidecar Logging Proxy in Python
Wrap any object with a proxy that transparently logs every method call, arguments, return value, and execution time to a file — mimicking a sidecar pattern.
import logging
import time
from datetime import datetime
class LoggingProxy:
"""Sidecar-style proxy that logs all calls to a wrapped object."""
def __init__(self, target, log_file="proxy.log"):
self._target = target
logging.basicConfig(
filename=log_file,
level=loggin…How to Build an Immutable Money Value Object in Python
Implement an immutable Money class with rounded decimal amounts, currency, safe equality, and hashing for use as a value object.
class Money:
def __init__(self, amount: float, currency: str):
object.__setattr__(self, "_amount", round(amount, 2))
object.__setattr__(self, "_currency", currency)
def __setattr__(self, name, value):
raise AttributeError(f"Money is immutable: cannot set '{name}'")
def __delattr__…How to Take Periodic Snapshots of Aggregate State in Python
Build a Python class that accumulates values and periodically captures immutable snapshots of total, count, and average for later analysis.
import time
import random
from collections import defaultdict
class SnapshotAggregator:
def __init__(self):
self.total = 0
self.count = 0
self.history = []
def add(self, value):
self.total += value
self.count += 1
def snapshot(self):
avg = self.total / se…How to implement stale-while-revalidate caching in Python
A Python cache wrapper that returns a stale cached value with a fallback flag when the upstream fetch fails, using TTL-based freshness checks.
import time
from functools import lru_cache
class CachedService:
def __init__(self, fetch_func, ttl=5):
self.fetch_func = fetch_func
self.ttl = ttl
self._cache = {}
self._timestamp = {}
def get(self, key):
now = time.time()
if key in self._cache and now - self…How to Mock Content-Disposition and Extract Filename in Python
Parse and mock Content-Disposition headers in Python to extract filenames, handling both plain and RFC 5987 encoded values.
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re
from unittest.mock import patch
def get_filename_from_content_disposition(header_value):
"""
Extract filename from a Content-Disposition header value.
Supports both filename and filename* parameters (RFC 5987).
"""
if not header_value:
return No…How to Validate Request Body JSON Against a Schema in Python
Build a lightweight schema validator to check required fields, types, string lengths, allowed values, and nested objects in a JSON request body.
import json
def validate_against_schema(data, schema, path=""):
errors = []
if not isinstance(data, dict):
errors.append(f"{path}: expected object, got {type(data).__name__}")
return errors
for field, rules in schema.items():
field_path = f"{path}.{field}" if path else field
…Exactly Once Idempotent Consumer Store in Python
A mock key-value store that guarantees exactly-once processing by rejecting duplicate message keys in a message or event stream.
from collections import defaultdict
class ExactlyOnceStore:
def __init__(self):
self.processed = defaultdict(set)
self.data = {}
def consume(self, key, value):
if key in self.data:
return False
self.data[key] = value
return True
def get_processed_count…How to Aggregate Periodic Snapshot Data in Python
Generates mock snapshot data and groups values into periods to compute average aggregates with Python's standard library.
import random
from collections import defaultdict
def snapshot_aggregate(n=10, period=3):
data = defaultdict(list)
for i in range(n):
key = f"item_{i % period}"
data[key].append(random.randint(1, 100))
return dict(data)
def aggregate_periodic(snapshots, period=3):
result = {}
for …Cache Data in Redis with Python
A beginner-friendly Redis cache helper that stores JSON strings with a TTL and retrieves them with the redis-py client.
import redis
class DataCache:
def __init__(self, host="localhost", port=6379, db=0):
self.client = redis.Redis(host=host, port=port, db=db, decode_responses=True)
def cache_data(self, key, value, ttl=60):
self.client.setex(key, ttl, value)
def get_cached_data(self, key):
return …Cache Warming with Python: Preload Hot Keys
Demonstrates a simple LRU-like cache with a warm method that preloads hot keys with mock values using OrderedDict.
import time
from collections import OrderedDict
class CacheWarm:
def __init__(self, capacity=3):
self.capacity = capacity
self.cache = OrderedDict()
self.hot_keys = []
def warm(self, keys):
"""Preload hot keys into cache with mock values."""
for key in keys:
…Coalescing duplicate in-flight requests: one shared result for concurrent callers
Runs identical concurrent requests through a single shared call, caching the result while it's in flight and returning the same value to all callers.
import time
import threading
from collections import defaultdict
class CoalescingExecutor:
def __init__(self):
self._locks = defaultdict(threading.Lock)
self._in_flight = {}
def execute(self, key, func):
with self._locks[key]:
if key in self._in_flight:
re…How to Implement a Redis-Like Cache Dictionary in Python
Build a RedisMockDict class that mimics basic Redis key-value operations with TTL support, expiry cleanup, and standard dict-like methods.
from collections import OrderedDict
import time
class RedisMockDict:
def __init__(self, ttl=None):
self._data = OrderedDict()
self._ttl = ttl # default TTL in seconds, None = no expiry
self._expiry = {}
def set(self, key, value, ttl=None):
"""Set a key-value pair with optiona…How to Implement a Write-Through Cache in Python with a Mock Database
A thread-safe write-through cache that updates both cache and mock database atomically, computing values only after a successful write to the database.
import threading
import time
import random
class WriteThroughCache:
def __init__(self):
self.cache = {}
self.db = {}
self.lock = threading.Lock()
def write(self, key, value):
with self.lock:
# Simulate slow database write
time.sleep(random.uniform(0.01…How to Mock zlib Compression for Cache Values in Python
Compress cache values with zlib and mock the compress function in unit tests to simulate cache behavior.
import zlib
from unittest.mock import patch
def compress_value(data: bytes) -> bytes:
"""Compress data using zlib and return the compressed bytes."""
return zlib.compress(data)
def decompress_value(compressed: bytes) -> bytes:
"""Decompress zlib data and return the original bytes."""
return zlib.deco…How to Serialize Cache Values with JSON and Pickle in Python
Serialize cache values using JSON for simple types or pickle for arbitrary objects, with robust error handling for unsupported types like mocks.
import json
import pickle
from unittest.mock import Mock
def serialize(value, method="json"):
"""Serialize a cache value using JSON or pickle with type checking."""
if method == "json":
try:
return json.dumps(value).encode("utf-8")
except TypeError as e:
raise ValueErro…How to Use Redis as a Cache in Python
A beginner-friendly RedisCache helper that stores, retrieves, and deletes JSON values with automatic TTL expiration using the redis-py client.
import json
import time
import redis
class RedisCache:
def __init__(self, host="localhost", port=6379, db=0, default_ttl=60):
self.client = redis.Redis(host=host, port=port, db=db, decode_responses=True)
self.default_ttl = default_ttl
def set(self, key, value, ttl=None):
"""Store a v…Implement a TTL cache with a mock clock in Python
This code creates a simple TTL cache that stores values with an expiration timestamp and allows injecting a mock time function to test expiry behavior deterministically.
import time
from functools import wraps
class TTLCache:
def __init__(self, ttl_seconds):
self.ttl = ttl_seconds
self.cache = {}
self._now = time.time
def set_mock_time(self, mock_time_fn):
"""Inject a mock time function for testing TTL expiry."""
self._now = mock_time_…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 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…Browse by section
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