Re: [Fab-user] some basic python questions

[Jeff Forcier]

On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 2:58 AM, Bryan Berry <address@hidden> wrote:

> 1. Which unit testing framework do u guys recommend? I have done
> tutorials on unittest and doctest and will do tutorials on nose and
> py.test today. I don't particularly like doctest as I feel it clutters
> up my code.

Well, doctests *aren't* really unit tests, they're sort of orthogonal
to unit testing -- a different tool. Many people use both. Anyway,
I've only really used unittest, but others do exist like
aforementioned Nose, and in fact Niklas and myself will be exploring
those options soon to see what we want to use for Fabric's own test
suite. So keep an eye on the list :)

> 2. Can you guys point to any good tutorials for using unit testing in
> system administration? I manage 4 sysadmins and I want to get them to
> use unit testing extensively in our scripting.

I've never really seen unit testing documentation aimed at sysadmins
or scripting specifically; and honestly I'm not sure there's really
any difference. Unit testing is traditionally used for "applications"
as opposed to scripts, but the principle is the same anywhere, I'd
imagine.

The only real requirement for unit testing is the ability to import
your scripts in the testing module and have them still work there;
and, ideally, you need to be able to invoke your script's methods in a
"safe" environment (so testing e.g. a system upgrade script doesn't
actually upgrade your server...).

> 3. Which IRC channels do u recommend for interacting w/ the Python
> community? I went to #python at irc.freenode.net and found only 8
> participants.

I know the Freenode Python channel is bigger than that; I thought it
was #python, but it might be ##python (two #s) so double check there
as well. Otherwise, you probably just stumbled in there at a low
point.

> 4. Do you guys recommend any particular build tool like SCons, make,
> waf, buildbot for automating software builds? In my case the builds put
> together flash-based learning games, not pure python or C stuff.

Sadly I don't have any decent experience with build tools as I rarely
work on projects requiring actual building :( hopefully someone else
will have an idea. I know some tools exist that are sort-of in that
space (and sort-of in Fabric's space too) such as Vellum or
zc.buildout.

> 5. Can anyone recommend a really good book on test-driven development?

Again, I can't help here, maybe someone else can.

Best,
Jeff