Feedback

×

• Feedback
• Was this page helpful?*
  • Yes
  • No
• Do you have any additional feedback?
  • Yes
  • No
• Additional Feedback

Unit Tests

Unit tests serve as a foundational element in the software development lifecycle, offering a systematic approach to validating the correctness and reliability of individual units of code, often corresponding to public functions within Python files. For VerticaPy we use Pytest to run unit tests.

A key practice is to create dedicated test files for each Python module containing public functions. These test files, written by developers, serve as a comprehensive suite of tests to scrutinize the behavior of the smallest units of code in isolation.

In our development process, we emphasize the importance of maintaining a one-to-one relationship between Python source files and their associated test files. This ensures that the tests remain tightly coupled with the code they are designed to verify.

For example:

If there is a file verticapy/plotting/_matplotlib/hist.py then a corresponding test file will be created in the test directory: verticapy/tests/plotting/_matplotlib/test_hist.py.

We adhere to the test-driven development (TDD) methodology, where developers craft unit tests before the actual code implementation. These tests are constructed to assess the correctness of individual functions, evaluating their behavior against a predefined set of inputs. As a result, we establish a continuous feedback loop, where modifications or enhancements to the code are validated against the corresponding unit tests, fostering a proactive approach to defect detection.

To enhance the efficiency of our testing procedures, we leverage pytest and specifically employ the pytest-xdist plugin. This plugin facilitates parallel execution of tests, enabling us to distribute the test suite across multiple processes or even machines. The parallelization capability significantly accelerates the testing process, particularly beneficial as software projects scale in complexity. By harnessing the power of pytest-xdist, we ensure that our unit tests can be performed concurrently, allowing us to achieve faster feedback cycles and promptly identify and address potential issues in our codebase. This strategic integration of unit testing practices, coupled with parallel execution capabilities, contributes to the development of robust, reliable, and maintainable software systems.

Important

For more detailed information, please check out the relevant section: Unit Tests