The pytest Framework

One great testing framework is pytest, which can be installed via pip install pytest. One difference with respect to unittest is that, while it's still possible to classify test scenarios in classes and create object-oriented models of our tests, this is not actually mandatory, and it's possible to write unit tests with less boilerplate by just checking the conditions we want to verify in simple functions with the assert statement.

By default, making comparisons with an assert statement will be enough for pytest to identify a unit test and report its result accordingly. More advanced uses are also possible, but they require the use of specific functions from the package.

A nice feature is that the pytest command will run all the tests that it can discover, even if they were written with unittest. This compatibility makes it easier to transition from unittest to pytest gradually.

Basic test cases with pytest

The conditions we tested with unittest can be rewritten in simple functions with pytest.

Some examples with simple assertions are: