Understanding Unit Testing in Python
Objective: Research and understand the importance of unit testing in Python and how it
contributes to software quality assurance.
Instructions: Read the article from Dataquest on unit testing in Python – Dataquest Unit
Testing. Then, answer the following questions and complete the practical activity to
demonstrate your understanding.
Part 1: Research Questions
1. What is Unit Testing?
o Define unit testing and its purpose in software development.
Testing code by using segments of code to test
2. Why is Unit Testing Important?
o Explain the benefits of unit testing in terms of software reliability and
maintenance.
they help to ensure that code works as intended and catch bugs early on. Also, testing is a
best practice that can save time and money by finding and fixing issues before they cause
major problems.
3. Key Concepts in Unit Testing:
o Describe the role of the assert statement in Python.
The assert statement is a built-in statement in Python used to, as the name says, assert if
a given condition is true or not. If the condition is true, nothing happens, but if it's not true,
an error is raised.
o List and explain three assert methods provided by the unittest module.
assertTrue/False(x) checks that bool(x) is True/False
assertEqual(a, b) checks that a == b
assertIn(a, b) inserts a in b
4. Setting Up Unit Tests:
o Explain the significance of the setUp method in the unittest framework.
The setUp method in the unittest framework runs before each test, initializing
objects and variables needed for the tests. This ensures each test runs in a
clean environment without repeating setup code, improving maintainability
and reducing errors.
Part 2: Practical Activity
Objective: Implement unit tests for a Python class and practice unit, subsystem, and system
testing, as well as black box, white box, and grey box testing methodologies.
Activity Steps:
1. Create a Simple Python Class:
o Define a simple class, MathOperations, with methods for addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division.
class MathOperations:
def add(self, a, b):
return a + b
def subtract(self, a, b):
return a - b
def multiply(self, a, b):
return a * b
def divide(self, a, b):
if b == 0:
raise ValueError("Cannot divide by zero.")
return a / b
2. Write Unit Tests:
o Create unit tests for each method in the MathOperations class.
o Some sections below are missing that you are required to complete.
import unittest
from math_operations import MathOperations
class TestMathOperations([Link]):
def setUp(self):
self.math_ops = MathOperations()
def test_add(self):
# Add unit tests for the add method
[Link](self.math_ops.add(3, 4), ____) # Fill in
expected value
[Link](self.math_ops.add(-1, 1), ____) # Fill in
expected value
def test_subtract(self):
# Add unit tests for the subtract method
[Link](self.math_ops.subtract(10, 5), ____) #
Fill in expected value
[Link](self.math_ops.subtract(0, 0), ____) # Fill
in expected value
def test_multiply(self):
# Add unit tests for the multiply method
[Link](self.math_ops.multiply(6, 7), ____) # Fill
in expected value
[Link](self.math_ops.multiply(-1, -1), ____) #
Fill in expected value
def test_divide(self):
# Add unit tests for the divide method
[Link](self.math_ops.divide(10, 2), ____) # Fill
in expected value
with [Link](ValueError):
self.math_ops.divide(10, ____) # Fill in value that
causes exception
if __name__ == '__main__':
[Link]()
3. Black Box, White Box, and Grey Box Testing:
o Perform black box testing by writing tests without looking at the internal code.
o Perform white box testing by considering the internal code structure.
o Combine both approaches for grey box testing.
Submission
Submit your answers to the research questions and the completed Python code with unit tests.
Ensure that your code is well-commented to explain your testing approach.
Key unittest Methods
Method Description
assertEqual(a, b) Checks if a is equal to b.
assertNotEqual(a, b) Checks if a is not equal to b.
assertTrue(x) Checks if x is true.
assertFalse(x) Checks if x is false.
Setting Up Tests
Method Purpose
setUp Initialises the test environment before each test method is run.
