Running Tests

For a python project I worked on, we used the standard python unittest module and placed test classes within an if __name__=='__main__': block at the bottom of each module. This makes tests easy to run and has the advantage of keeping the testing code close to the source code. But, as I've learned, there's a better way to do it.

The major drawback of the above framework is a lack of control over tests. One cannot selectively run tests from within a module nor can test results be compiled in a nice way (since screen-scraping is the only option). I've since learned about nose, which is a "test runner." Instead of wrapping unit test classes in a if __name__=='__main__':, you simply place test classes somewhere in your source code hierarchy. Options include along-side the module code, or in "test" files within a "test" directory. To run tests, you simply run nosetests with arguments specifying what tests you want to run. This could be the root directory of your source code tree, or a list of python module names. Further refinement of which tests to run can be had by using nose attributes.