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Python Testing with pytest, Second Edition

Simple, Rapid, Effective, and Scalable

Margaret Eldridge
The Pragmatic Programmers
2 min readFeb 25, 2022

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Brian Okken has a new edition of his best-selling Python testing book available:

pytest is undeniably the best choice for testing Python projects. It’s a full-featured, flexible, and extensible testing framework. pytest’s fixture model allows you to share test data and setup procedures across multiple layers of tests. The pytest framework gives you powerful features such as assert rewriting, parameterization, markers, plugins, parallel test execution, and clear test failure reporting — with no boilerplate code.

With simple step-by-step instructions and sample code, Brian Okken gets you up to speed quickly on this easy-to-learn yet powerful tool. Write short, maintainable tests that elegantly express what you’re testing. Speed up test times by distributing tests across multiple processors and running tests in parallel. Use Python’s built-in assert statements instead of awkward assert helper functions to make your tests more readable. Move setup code out of tests and into fixtures to separate setup failures from test failures. Test error conditions and corner cases with expected exception testing, and use one test to run many test cases with parameterized testing. Extend pytest with plugins, connect it to continuous integration systems, and use it in tandem with tox, mock, coverage, and even existing unittest tests.

Write simple, maintainable tests quickly with pytest.

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