Some Issues and Questions
==================================

.. note::

    This FAQ is here only mostly for historic reasons.  Checkout
    `pytest Q&A at Stackoverflow <http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=pytest>`_ 
    for many questions and answers related to pytest and/or use
    :ref:`contact channels` to get help.

On naming, nosetests, licensing and magic
------------------------------------------------

How does py.test relate to nose and unittest?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

py.test and nose_ share basic philosophy when it comes
to running and writing Python tests.  In fact, you can run many tests
written for nose with py.test.  nose_ was originally created
as a clone of ``py.test`` when py.test was in the ``0.8`` release
cycle.  Note that starting with pytest-2.0 support for running unittest
test suites is majorly improved.

how does py.test relate to twisted's trial?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Since some time py.test has builtin support for supporting tests
written using trial. It does not itself start a reactor, however,
and does not handle Deferreds returned from a test in pytest style.  
If you are using trial's unittest.TestCase chances are that you can
just run your tests even if you return Deferreds.  In addition,
there also is a dedicated `pytest-twisted
<http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pytest-twisted>`_ plugin which allows to
return deferreds from pytest-style tests, allowing to use
:ref:`fixtures` and other features.
 
how does py.test work with Django?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In 2012, some work is going into the `pytest-django plugin <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/pytest-django>`_.  It substitutes the usage of Django's
``manage.py test`` and allows to use all pytest features_ most of which
are not available from Django directly.

.. _features: features.html


What's this "magic" with py.test? (historic notes)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Around 2007 (version ``0.8``) some people thought that py.test
was using too much "magic".  It had been part of the `pylib`_ which
contains a lot of unreleated python library code.  Around 2010 there
was a major cleanup refactoring, which removed unused or deprecated code 
and resulted in the new ``pytest`` PyPI package which strictly contains
only test-related code.  This relese also brought a complete pluginification
such that the core is around 300 lines of code and everything else is
implemented in plugins.  Thus ``pytest`` today is a small, universally runnable 
and customizable testing framework for Python.   Note, however, that
``pytest`` uses metaprogramming techniques and reading its source is 
thus likely not something for Python beginners.

A second "magic" issue was the assert statement debugging feature.  
Nowadays, py.test explicitely rewrites assert statements in test modules
in order to provide more useful :ref:`assert feedback <assertfeedback>`.
This completely avoids previous issues of confusing assertion-reporting.  
It also means, that you can use Python's ``-O`` optimization without loosing
assertions in test modules.

py.test contains a second mostly obsolete assert debugging technique,
invoked via ``--assert=reinterpret``, activated by default on
Python-2.5: When an ``assert`` statement fails, py.test re-interprets
the expression part to show intermediate values.  This technique suffers
from a caveat that the rewriting does not: If your expression has side
effects (better to avoid them anyway!) the intermediate values may not
be the same, confusing the reinterpreter and obfuscating the initial
error (this is also explained at the command line if it happens).  

You can also turn off all assertion interaction using the
``--assertmode=off`` option.

.. _`py namespaces`: index.html
.. _`py/__init__.py`: http://bitbucket.org/hpk42/py-trunk/src/trunk/py/__init__.py


Why a ``py.test`` instead of a ``pytest`` command?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Some of the reasons are historic, others are practical.  ``py.test``
used to be part of the ``py`` package which provided several developer
utilities, all starting with ``py.<TAB>``, thus providing nice
TAB-completion. If
you install ``pip install pycmd`` you get these tools from a separate
package.  These days the command line tool could be called ``pytest``
but since many people have gotten used to the old name and there
is another tool named "pytest" we just decided to stick with
``py.test`` for now.

pytest fixtures, parametrized tests
-------------------------------------------------------

.. _funcargs: funcargs.html

Is using pytest fixtures versus xUnit setup a style question?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For simple applications and for people experienced with nose_ or
unittest-style test setup using `xUnit style setup`_ probably
feels natural.  For larger test suites, parametrized testing
or setup of complex test resources using funcargs_ may feel more natural.
Moreover, funcargs are ideal for writing advanced test support
code (like e.g. the monkeypatch_, the tmpdir_ or capture_ funcargs)
because the support code can register setup/teardown functions
in a managed class/module/function scope.

.. _monkeypatch: monkeypatch.html
.. _tmpdir: tmpdir.html
.. _capture: capture.html

.. _`why pytest_pyfuncarg__ methods?`:

.. _`Convention over Configuration`: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_over_Configuration

Can I yield multiple values from a fixture function function?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

There are two conceptual reasons why yielding from a factory function
is not possible:

* If multiple factories yielded values there would
  be no natural place to determine the combination
  policy - in real-world examples some combinations
  often should not run.

* Calling factories for obtaining test function arguments
  is part of setting up and running a test.  At that
  point it is not possible to add new test calls to
  the test collection anymore.

However, with pytest-2.3 you can use the :ref:`@pytest.fixture` decorator
and specify ``params`` so that all tests depending on the factory-created
resource will run multiple times with different parameters.

You can also use the `pytest_generate_tests`_ hook to 
implement the `parametrization scheme of your choice`_.

.. _`pytest_generate_tests`: test/funcargs.html#parametrizing-tests
.. _`parametrization scheme of your choice`: http://tetamap.wordpress.com/2009/05/13/parametrizing-python-tests-generalized/

py.test interaction with other packages
---------------------------------------------------

Issues with py.test, multiprocess and setuptools?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On windows the multiprocess package will instantiate sub processes
by pickling and thus implicitly re-import a lot of local modules.
Unfortunately, setuptools-0.6.11 does not ``if __name__=='__main__'``
protect its generated command line script.  This leads to infinite
recursion when running a test that instantiates Processes.

As of middle 2013, there shouldn't be a problem anymore when you
use the standard setuptools (note that distribute has been merged
back into setuptools which is now shipped directly with virtualenv).

.. include:: links.inc
