Doctesting Best Practices

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Alright, Python an interpreted, interactive programming language that combines remarkable power with clear syntax! It supports multiple programming paradigms and has interfaces to many system calls and libraries. But what exactly is doctesting? Well, it’s a way to add comments to your code that look like documentation strings (docstrings), but can also be run as tests. This means you don’t need a separate testing file or framework just add some comments and watch the magic happen!

Now best practices for doctesting in Python. First off, keep your doctests simple and straightforward. Don’t try to test every possible scenario in one comment that’ll make it harder to read and understand what’s going on. Instead, focus on testing specific functionality or edge cases. For example:

# Define a function called "add_numbers" that takes in two parameters, x and y
def add_numbers(x, y):
    """Add two numbers together"""
    # The function adds the two parameters together and returns the result
    return x + y

# Testing the addition of 2 and 3 by calling the "add_numbers" function with the arguments 2 and 3
> add_numbers(2, 3)
# The expected result is 5, which is the sum of 2 and 3
5

Next up: use doctests to test your docstrings! This might sound a bit redundant, but trust us it’s worth it. By testing your docstrings, you can ensure that they accurately reflect the functionality of your code and provide clear instructions for how to use it. For example:

# Define a function to get user input with a prompt
def get_user_input(prompt):
    """This function takes in a prompt and asks the user for input. It then attempts to convert the input into an integer and returns the response."""
    while True:
        try:
            # Use the input() function to get user input and convert it to an integer
            response = int(input(prompt))
            # Return the response if it is successfully converted to an integer
            return response
        except ValueError:
            # If the input cannot be converted to an integer, print an error message and ask for input again
            print("Invalid input, please enter a number.")

# Test the get_user_input function with an example prompt and expected output
> get_user_input("Enter your age: ")
25

Finally, don’t forget to run your doctests! This might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to overlook. By running your tests regularly (ideally as part of your development workflow), you can catch any issues or bugs early on and avoid headaches down the line.

Remember: keep it simple, test specific functionality, and run those tests often.

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