Testing & modern typing
pytest basics, mocks, type hints, TypedDict, Protocol, and static-checking patterns.
Design Data Helpers with Python TypedDict and Literal
Use TypedDict, Literal, and Union to define typed data shapes and parse values in Python.
from typing import TypedDict, Literal, Optional, Union, List
class User(TypedDict):
name: str
age: int
role: Literal["admin", "user", "guest"]
def describeUser(data: User) -> str:
return f"{data['name']} ({data['age']}) — {data['role']}"
def parse_value(item: Union[int, str, None]) -> str:
if it…
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 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 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]:
"…
How to Use Python Type Hints for Beginners
Build a data helper module with basic type hints — Union, Optional, List, Dict, Any, and TypeVar — to make your code clearer and safer.
from typing import Any, Union, Optional, List, Dict, Tuple, Callable, TypeVar
T = TypeVar("T")
def describe(value: Any) -> str:
"""Return a human-readable description of the value's type."""
if isinstance(value, list):
return f"list of {len(value)} items"
elif isinstance(value, dict):
ret…
How to Use TypedDict and Dataclasses in Python
Create typed data structures with TypedDict and dataclasses, then use them as helper functions for describing objects in a type-safe way.
from typing import TypedDict, NotRequired, Optional
from dataclasses import dataclass
class User(TypedDict):
name: str
age: NotRequired[int]
email: Optional[str]
@dataclass
class Product:
id: int
title: str
price: float = 0.0
def describe_user(user: User) -> str:
age = user.get("age",…
How to Validate Dataclass Fields with Python Type Hints
A beginner-friendly helper that checks if instance attributes match their declared type hints using dataclasses and get_type_hints.
from typing import Any, TypeVar, get_type_hints
from dataclasses import dataclass
T = TypeVar("T")
@dataclass
class User:
name: str
age: int
email: str
def validate_fields(obj: Any) -> dict[str, bool]:
"""Check if object attributes match declared type hints."""
hints = get_type_hints(obj.__class…
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