Real Python Podcast Episode #206 Title Artwork

Episode 206: Building Python Unit Tests & Exploring a Data Visualization Gallery

The Real Python Podcast

May 31, 2024 42m

How do you start adding unit tests to your Python code? Can the built-in unittest framework cover most or all of your needs? Christopher Trudeau is back on the show this week, bringing another batch of PyCoder’s Weekly articles and projects.

We dig into a recent tutorial by Leodanis Pozo Ramos about writing unit tests using Python’s unittest. The tutorial covers organizing your tests, exploring assert methods, creating test fixtures, and debugging failing tests.

We explore a collection of Python data visualizations and tutorials from the Python Graph Gallery. The website features hundreds of charts and graphs built using popular plotting libraries. Each chart type features a foundational tutorial that introduces the structure and application.

We also share several other articles and projects from the Python community, including a news roundup, the new REPL coming in Python 3.13, a pytest daemon to 10X test iteration speed, a discussion about software friction, a Raspberry Pi document scanner, and a project for controlling time per iteration loop.

Topics:

  • 00:00:00 - Introduction
  • 00:02:08 - Python Software Foundation Board Election Dates for 2024
  • 00:02:35 - 2023 PSF Annual Impact Report
  • 00:03:03 - Python’s unittest: Writing Unit Tests for Your Code
  • 00:09:41 - What’s New in Python 3.13
  • 00:10:38 - The New REPL in Python 3.13
  • 00:13:39 - Best Python Chart Examples
  • 00:15:27 - Animation with text that highlights important events
  • 00:16:39 - Sankey Diagram with Python and Plotly
  • 00:18:55 - Video Course Spotlight
  • 00:20:25 - Pytest Daemon: 10X Local Test Iteration Speed
  • 00:23:58 - Software Friction
  • 00:35:41 - A Raspberry Pi Document Scanner
  • 00:39:00 - pacemaker: For Controlling Time Per Iteration Loop in Python
  • 00:41:55 - Thanks and goodbye

News:

Show Links:

Discussion:

  • Software Friction – Friction is everywhere in software development. Two setbacks are more than twice as bad as one setback. This article discusses the sources of software friction and what you can do about it.

Projects:

Additional Links: