Testing & modern typing
pytest basics, mocks, type hints, TypedDict, Protocol, and static-checking patterns.
Capture stdout and stderr with pytest capsys
Use pytest's capsys fixture to capture and assert on standard output and error streams in your tests.
import pytest
# Function under test
def greet(name):
print(f"Hello, {name}!")
print(f"Error: {name} not found", file=sys.stderr)
def test_captures_stdout_and_stderr(capsys):
greet("Alice")
captured = capsys.readouterr()
assert "Hello, Alice!" in captured.out
assert "Error: Alice not foun…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(…Fix and Test a Regression Bug in Python with Unit Tests
This code implements a circle area function that raises ValueError for negative radii, then runs basic tests and a regression check for that edge case.
import math
def calculate_area(radius):
"""Calculate the area of a circle given its radius."""
if radius < 0:
raise ValueError("Radius cannot be negative")
return math.pi * radius ** 2
def main():
test_cases = [0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10]
print("Circle Area Calculator")
print("-" * 30)
…Generate Fake User Data with Faker in Python
Use the Faker library to generate realistic fake user profiles with names, emails, phone numbers, and addresses for tests or demos.
from faker import Faker
fake = Faker()
def generate_user():
return {
"name": fake.name(),
"email": fake.email(),
"phone": fake.phone_number(),
"address": fake.address().replace("\n", ", "),
}
if __name__ == "__main__":
user = generate_user()
for key, value in user.ite…How to Assert Exceptions in Python with pytest.raises
Use pytest.raises as a context manager to assert that a function raises an expected exception and inspect its message in pytest tests.
import pytest
def divide(a, b):
if b == 0:
raise ValueError("Cannot divide by zero")
return a / b
def test_divide_by_zero():
with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
divide(10, 0)
assert str(exc_info.value) == "Cannot divide by zero"
assert "zero" in str(exc_info.value)
def te…How to Flag Unexpected Diff Changes in Python
Compares two snapshot lists, detects unexpected differences, and returns a flag indicating whether the snapshot should be updated.
import difflib
def snapshot_diff(before, after, intentional_changes=None):
"""Compare snapshots and flag only unexpected differences."""
intentional_changes = intentional_changes or set()
diff = list(difflib.unified_diff(before, after, lineterm=""))
has_unexpected = False
for line in diff:
…How to Mock a Factory Boy Model Instance in Python
Create a factory boy factory, then patch its Meta.model with a Mock to control instance behavior in tests.
import factory
from dataclasses import dataclass
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
import builtins
@dataclass
class User:
name: str
age: int
class UserFactory(factory.Factory):
class Meta:
model = User
name = "Alice"
age = 30
def get_user_name(user):
return user.name
def ma…How to Mock and Stub API Calls in Playwright E2E Tests with Python
This code demonstrates how to mock and stub API responses in Playwright end-to-end tests using Python's unittest.mock patch and Playwright's APIRequestContext.
import re
from unittest.mock import patch
from playwright.sync_api import sync_playwright
def verify_api_mock(page, mock_url, mock_response):
with patch("playwright.sync_api.APIRequestContext.get") as mock_get:
mock_get.return_value.json.return_value = mock_response
mock_get.return_value.status_co…How to Mock requests.get in Python
Mock requests.get with unittest.mock to test code that makes HTTP calls without hitting the network.
import requests
from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
def fetch_user_data(user_id):
response = requests.get(f"https://api.example.com/users/{user_id}")
return response.json()
def process_user(user_id):
mock_response = Mock()
mock_response.json.return_value = {"id": user_id, "name": "Alice", "age": 30…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.
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…How to Mock subprocess.run returncode in Python
Simulate subprocess.run return codes in tests with unittest.mock.patch and CompletedProcess.
import subprocess
from unittest.mock import patch
def run_command(cmd):
result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)
return result.returncode
if __name__ == "__main__":
with patch("subprocess.run") as mock_run:
# Simulate a successful command (returncode 0)
mock_run.retu…How to Parametrize pytest Tests with Multiple Input Cases in Python
This code shows how to use pytest's @pytest.mark.parametrize decorator to run the same test function across multiple input-output combinations, checking that an add function behaves correctly for each case.
import pytest
def add(a, b):
return a + b
@pytest.mark.parametrize("a,b,expected", [
(1, 2, 3),
(5, 5, 10),
(-1, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 0),
(10, -3, 7),
])
def test_add(a, b, expected):
assert add(a, b) == expected
if __name__ == "__main__":
pytest.main([__file__, "-v"])How to Share Fixtures Across Tests with pytest conftest
Learn how to define pytest fixtures in conftest.py and control their scope (function, module, session) so every test in a directory reuses the same setup and teardown.
import pytest
@pytest.fixture
def sample_data():
"""Simple fixture available to all tests in this directory."""
return {"name": "Alice", "age": 30}
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
def session_data():
"""Fixture created once per test session."""
return {"session_id": 12345}
@pytest.fixture(scope="mo…How to Skip Slow Tests with pytest.mark in Python
Use pytest.mark.skip and custom marks like @pytest.mark.slow to skip or deselect slow tests during test runs.
import pytest
import time
def test_fast():
assert 1 + 1 == 2
@pytest.mark.skip(reason="slow test skipped by default")
def test_slow():
time.sleep(5)
assert True
@pytest.mark.slow
def test_marked_slow():
time.sleep(5)
assert True
if __name__ == "__main__":
pytest.main([__file__, "-v", "-…How to Test Environment Variables with pytest monkeypatch in Python
Shows how to use pytest's monkeypatch fixture to set and delete environment variables for isolated tests.
import os
import pytest
def get_database_url():
return os.getenv("DATABASE_URL", "postgres://default")
def test_database_url_with_env(monkeypatch):
monkeypatch.setenv("DATABASE_URL", "postgres://test-db")
assert get_database_url() == "postgres://test-db"
def test_database_url_default(monkeypatch):
m…How to Use Hypothesis Strategies for Lists of Text in Python
Generate random lists of non-empty strings with Hypothesis and verify that joining them with a comma-and-space separator meets expected length and containment invariants.
from hypothesis import given, strategies as st
from hypothesis import example
@given(st.lists(st.text(min_size=1, max_size=10), min_size=1, max_size=5))
def test_joined_string_length(items):
"""Each text is non-empty; a joined string should be at least as long
as the number of items (separator adds character…How to Use setUp and tearDown in Python unittest TestCase
Demonstrates how to structure unit tests with setUp and tearDown methods in Python's unittest framework for reusable test fixtures.
import unittest
class ExampleTest(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.data = [1, 2, 3]
def tearDown(self):
self.data = None
def test_length(self):
self.assertEqual(len(self.data), 3)
def test_contains(self):
self.assertIn(2, self.data)
if __name__ == "__main…How to freeze time in Python tests with freezegun
Use the freezegun decorator to freeze datetime.now() at a fixed timestamp so tests that depend on current time run deterministically.
from datetime import datetime
from freezegun import freeze_time
@freeze_time("2024-01-15 12:30:00")
def test_frozen_time():
now = datetime.now()
return now
if __name__ == "__main__":
result = test_frozen_time()
print(result)How to mark known bugs with pytest xfail in Python
Use @pytest.mark.xfail to mark tests that are expected to fail due to known bugs, with optional strict mode to control pass/fail behavior.
import pytest
def divide(a: int, b: int) -> float:
if b == 0:
raise ZeroDivisionError("Cannot divide by zero")
return a / b
@pytest.mark.xfail(reason="Known bug: division returns int instead of float", strict=False)
def test_divide_integer_division():
result = divide(10, 4)
assert isinstanc…Mock datetime with time-machine in Python
Use the time-machine library to travel to a fixed datetime when running tests or scripts, mocking datetime.utcnow().
from time_machine import travel
from datetime import datetime
@travel("2020-01-01 10:30:00")
def check_date():
return datetime.utcnow()
if __name__ == "__main__":
print(check_date())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…Table-Driven Tests in Python (unittest)
Run a single unittest test against many input cases using a list of tuples and subTest.
import unittest
def add(a, b):
return a + b
class TestAddFunction(unittest.TestCase):
def test_add_with_table(self):
cases = [
(1, 2, 3),
(-1, 1, 0),
(0, 0, 0),
(2, -3, -1),
]
for x, y, expected in cases:
with self.subTest(x…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.
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.…Browse by section
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