Test & Code

A farewell to a fun 10 years.

Also, I should have tested it better. :)
In the audio I got the numbers wrong.  Doh!
This is episode 238, not 237. Oh well.

I'll still be around, of course, at:

• pythontest.com - where I write about developing software with tests
• pythonbytes.fm - Python news and headlines, delivered directly to your earbuds

Thanks for all the fun over the last 10 years.
I wish you the best.

In this episode, Brian interviews Sebastián Ramírez, creator of FastAPI, about its rapid rise in developer popularity and the launch of FastAPI Cloud. Sebastian explains how FastAPI Cloud addresses deployment challenges small teams face. He shares his transition from open-source to startup founder, focusing on simplifying deployment against the complexity of tools like Kubernetes.

Links:

• FastAPI Cloud
• FastAPI
• SQLModel
• Typer
• OpenAPI
• Pydantic
• Sequoia Open Source Fellowship

In this episode, host Brian Okken and guest Adam Johnson explore essential Git features, highlighted by Adam's updated book, "Boost Your Git DX." 

Key topics include 

• "cherry picking" for selective commits
• "git stash" for managing in-progress work
• "git diff", and specifically its `--name-only` flag, which provides a streamlined method for developers to identify which files have changed, which can be used to determine which tests need to be run
• "git bisect" for efficiently pinpointing bugs. 

This conversation offers valuable strategies for developers at any skill level to enhance their Git proficiency and optimize their coding workflows.

Links:

• Boost Your Git DX - Adam's book

In this episode, special guest Adam Johnson joins the show and examines pytest-django, a popular plugin among Django developers. He highlights its advantages over the built-in unittest framework, including improved test management and debugging. Adam addresses transition challenges, evolving fixture practices, and offers tips for optimizing test performance. This episode is a concise guide for developers looking to enhance their testing strategies with pytest-django.

Links:

• pytest-django - a plugin for pytest that provides a set of useful tools for testing Django applications and projects.

pytest-metadata is described as a plugin for pytest that provides access to test session metadata. 
That is such a humble description for such a massively useful plugin. 
If you're already using pytest-html, you have pytest-metadata already installed, as pytest-metadata is one of the dependencies for pytest-html.
However, pytest-metadata is very useful even on its own.

Links:

• pytest-metadata - The plugin we're talking about in this episode
• pytest-base-url - Adds the base URL to the metadata.
• pytest-html - Displays the metadata at the start of each report. 
  • See S2:E6: pytest-html - a plugin that generates HTML reports for test results
• pytest-reporter-html1 - Presents metadata as part of the report.
• pytest-selenium - Adds the driver, capabilities, and remote server to the metadata.

If you've got other plugins that work well with pytest-metadata, please let me know.

pytest-check is a pytest plugin that allows multiple failures per test.

Normally, a test function will fail and stop running with the first failed assert. That's totally fine for tons of kinds of software tests. However, there are times where you'd like to check more than one thing, and you'd really like to know the results of each check, even if one of them fails.

pytest-check allows multiple failed "checks" per test function, so you can see the whole picture of what's going wrong.

Links:

• pytest-check
• Top pytest plugins

AI is helping people write code.  
Tests are one of those things that some people don't like to write.   

Can AI play a role in creating automated software tests?  
Well, yes. But it's a nuanced yes.  

Anthony Shaw comes on the show to discuss the topic and try to get AI to write some test for my very own cards project.

We discuss:

• The promise of AI writing your tests for you
• Downsides to not writing tests yourself
• Bad ways to generate tests
• Good ways to ask AI for help in writing tests
• Tricks to get better results while using copilot and other AI tools

Links:

• The cards project
• A video version of this discussion: Should AI write tests?

pytest-repeat 

• is a pytest plugin that makes it easy to repeat a single test, or multiple tests, a specific number of times.  
• works fine on Python 3.14
• is tested on Python 3.9-3.14
• probably works fine still on 3.7 & 3.8

This episode also discusses the attempted April Fools episode.

Links:

• pytest-repeat
• The April Fools episode: Python 3.14 won't repeat with pytest-repeat
  
  

pytest-repeat is a pytest plugin that makes it easy to repeat a single test, or multiple tests, a specific number of times.  

Note: This was an April Fools attempt, so the statement ...
"Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work with Python 3.14, even though there is no rational reason why it shouldn't work." 
... is NOT true.

Listen to the NEXT episode to get an explanation

Links:

• pytest-repeat
• Next episode: pytest-repeat - works fine on Python 3.14

pytest-html has got to be one of my all time favorite plugins. 
pytest-html is a plugin for pytest that generates a HTML report for test results. 
This episode digs into some of the super coolness of pytest-html.

• pytest-html
• repo readme with screenshot
• enhancing reports
• pytest-metadata