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Testing & modern typing

pytest basics, mocks, type hints, TypedDict, Protocol, and static-checking patterns.

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How to Mock return_value with MagicMock in Python unittest

Use unittest.mock.MagicMock to replace a dependency and set return_value to control what a mocked method returns during unit tests.

unittest mock magicmock

Python

import unittest
from unittest.mock import MagicMock


class PaymentGateway:
    def charge(self, amount):
        raise NotImplementedError


class OrderService:
    def __init__(self, gateway):
        self.gateway = gateway

    def process_order(self, amount):
        return self.gateway.charge(amount)


class Test…

12 0 Open

Testing & modern typing medium

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.

testing mocks stubs

Python

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…

12 0 Open

Testing & modern typing easy

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.

datetime mock unittest

Python

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…

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Testing & modern typing medium

Use pytest fixture to mock a database connection in Python

This code shows how to use a pytest fixture and unittest.mock to replace a database connection with a Mock, enabling isolated tests without a real database.

pytest fixtures unittest.mock

Python

import pytest
import sqlite3
from unittest.mock import Mock

class Database:
    def __init__(self, connection):
        self.connection = connection

    def get_user(self, user_id):
        cursor = self.connection.cursor()
        cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?", (user_id,))
        return cursor.…

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