Testing & modern typing
pytest basics, mocks, type hints, TypedDict, Protocol, and static-checking patterns.
Dataclass with Type Hints Fields in Python
Create a data class with typed fields and default values, then instantiate and inspect it.
from dataclasses import dataclass
@dataclass
class Person:
name: str
age: int
email: str = "unknown@example.com"
is_active: bool = True
if __name__ == "__main__":
person = Person(name="Alice", age=30)
print(person)
print(f"Name: {person.name}, Age: {person.age}, Email: {person.email}, A…Dependency Injection in Python for Testability
Inject a config dependency into a service so you can swap a real environment-based config for a fake one in tests.
import os
class Config:
"""Simple config loader that can be easily faked in tests."""
def get(self, key, default=None):
return os.environ.get(key, default)
class UserService:
def __init__(self, config):
self.config = config
def get_timeout(self):
return int(self.config.get(…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…Format Data with Type Hints in Python
Build a validated person dict with modern type hints and optional list handling.
from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Union
JsonValue = Union[str, int, float, bool, None, List["JsonValue"], Dict[str, "JsonValue"]]
def format_person(name: str, age: int, hobbies: Optional[List[str]] = None) -> Dict[str, Any]:
"""Build a person dict with validated typing."""
if not name or age < 0:…How to Compare Files and Show a Diff in Python
Compare two text files and print a unified diff using Python's difflib module to highlight differences.
import difflib
from pathlib import Path
def compare_files(expected_path: str, actual_path: str) -> str:
"""Compare two text files and return a unified diff."""
expected = Path(expected_path).read_text()
actual = Path(actual_path).read_text()
diff = difflib.unified_diff(
expected.splitlines(ke…How to Compare Floats in pytest with approx
Uses pytest.approx to compare floating-point numbers with tolerance, avoiding precision issues.
import pytest
def test_float_addition():
result = 0.1 + 0.2
expected = 0.3
assert result == pytest.approx(expected)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 Load Test a Local API with Locust in Python
Defines a Locust load test that simulates traffic to local endpoints, enabling manual load testing against a development server.
from locust import HttpUser, task, between
class WebsiteUser(HttpUser):
wait_time = between(1, 3)
@task
def home_page(self):
self.client.get("/")
@task(3)
def about_page(self):
self.client.get("/about")
if __name__ == "__main__":
print("Run with: locust -f this_file.py --h…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 Run an Integration Test with Docker Compose Mock in Python
Run a Python integration test against a docker-compose environment, using mocks to simulate service health and business logic responses.
import subprocess
import json
from typing import Dict
def run_integration_test() -> Dict[str, str]:
"""
Simulates an integration test against a docker-compose environment
using a mock service that returns canned responses.
"""
# Mock docker-compose environment check
env_ready = subprocess.run(…How to Test Hypotheses with Property-Based Check in Python
A Python search that checks an integer property (palindrome divisible by digit sum) and returns the first counterexample within a range, with exactly reproduced output from the code.
def is_property_satisfied(n):
"""
Demonstrates a mathematically inspired property:
checks whether n is both a palindrome and divisible by its digit sum.
"""
s = str(n)
if s != s[::-1]:
return False
digit_sum = sum(int(d) for d in s)
return digit_sum != 0 and n % digit_sum == 0
…How to Use Basic Type Hints (int, str) for Return Values in Python
Declare a simple function with int and str type hints and a typed return value in Python.
def greet(name: str, age: int) -> str:
return f"{name} is {age} years old."
if __name__ == "__main__":
print(greet("Alice", 30))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 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 Stubs, Fakes, Spies, and Mocks in Python Testing
Implement four types of test doubles — stubs, fakes, spies, and mocks — as subclasses of a PaymentGateway interface to replace real dependencies during testing.
class PaymentGateway:
def charge(self, amount):
raise NotImplementedError
class StubPaymentGateway(PaymentGateway):
"""Returns a fixed response without any logic."""
def charge(self, amount):
return {"success": True, "transaction_id": "stub-12345"}
class FakePaymentGateway(PaymentGatewa…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 Use TypedDict for Data Validation in Python
Define a TypedDict schema and validate raw dictionary input with type hints for safer, more readable data handling.
from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Union, TypedDict, Literal
class Product(TypedDict):
product_id: int
name: str
price: Union[int, float]
in_stock: bool
tags: Optional[List[str]]
def validate_product(data: Dict[str, Any]) -> Product:
product_id: int = int(data["product_id"])
na…How to Use TypedDict for Structured Dict Typing in Python
Define and use TypedDict to add type hints to dictionaries, improving code clarity and enabling static type checking in your Python projects.
from typing import TypedDict
class User(TypedDict):
name: str
age: int
email: str
def greet(user: User) -> str:
return f"Hello {user['name']}, age {user['age']}, contact {user['email']}"
if __name__ == "__main__":
alice: User = {"name": "Alice", "age": 30, "email": "alice@example.com"}
pr…How to Use Union Type Hints in Python
This code demonstrates how to use Union type hints to specify that a parameter can accept multiple types (int, float, str) and handle them accordingly.
from typing import Union
def process_value(value: Union[int, float, str]) -> str:
if isinstance(value, (int, float)):
return f"Number: {value * 2}"
return f"String: {value.upper()}"
if __name__ == "__main__":
print(process_value(10))
print(process_value(3.14))
print(process_value("hello"))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 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…How to use Optional type hint in Python
Use the Optional type hint to indicate a parameter can be a string or None, with an example function that handles both cases.
from typing import Optional
def greet(name: Optional[str]) -> str:
if name is None:
return "Hello, anonymous!"
else:
return f"Hello, {name}!"
if __name__ == "__main__":
print(greet("Alice"))
print(greet(None))Browse by section
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