python-pytest-ops

Python pytest Patterns

Modern pytest patterns for effective testing.

Basic Test Structure

import pytest

def test_basic():
    """Simple assertion test."""
    assert 1 + 1 == 2

def test_with_description():
    """Descriptive name and docstring."""
    result = calculate_total([1, 2, 3])
    assert result == 6, "Sum should equal 6"

Fixtures

import pytest

@pytest.fixture
def sample_user():
    """Create test user."""
    return {"id": 1, "name": "Test User"}

@pytest.fixture
def db_connection():
    """Fixture with setup and teardown."""
    conn = create_connection()
    yield conn
    conn.close()

def test_user(sample_user):
    """Fixtures injected by name."""
    assert sample_user["name"] == "Test User"

Fixture Scopes

@pytest.fixture(scope="function")  # Default - per test
@pytest.fixture(scope="class")     # Per test class
@pytest.fixture(scope="module")    # Per test file
@pytest.fixture(scope="session")   # Entire test run

Parametrize

@pytest.mark.parametrize("input,expected", [
    (1, 2),
    (2, 4),
    (3, 6),
])
def test_double(input, expected):
    assert double(input) == expected

# Multiple parameters
@pytest.mark.parametrize("x", [1, 2])
@pytest.mark.parametrize("y", [10, 20])
def test_multiply(x, y):  # 4 test combinations
    assert x * y > 0

Exception Testing

def test_raises():
    with pytest.raises(ValueError) as exc_info:
        raise ValueError("Invalid input")
    assert "Invalid" in str(exc_info.value)

def test_raises_match():
    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match=r".*[Ii]nvalid.*"):
        raise ValueError("Invalid input")

Markers

@pytest.mark.skip(reason="Not implemented yet")
def test_future_feature():
    pass

@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32", reason="Unix only")
def test_unix_feature():
    pass

@pytest.mark.xfail(reason="Known bug")
def test_buggy():
    assert broken_function() == expected

@pytest.mark.slow
def test_performance():
    """Custom marker - register in pytest.ini."""
    pass