Pros and cons of python unit testing packages

Question

I am starting on my first large scale python project and I want to put the right testing package in place not only to get the job done but also so when hiring people down the road it's easy to find developers familiar with it.

I am curious what python unit testing packages are available and what their community adoption rates are, but I particularly want to know the advantages and disadvantages of them so I can make the best choice for my project.

Answer 1

Nose is no longer maintained:

Nose has been in maintenance mode for the past several years and will likely cease without a new person/team to take over maintainership. New projects should consider using Nose2, py.test, or just plain unittest/unittest2.

Even though unittest from the Python standard library is a very mature test framework with built-in test runner and test discovery capabilities, the biggest player in the Python testing world is currently pytest framework.

pytest is actively developed and maintained. It is compatible with both unittest and nose test suites, has built-in test discovery and has a rich set of 150+ plugins.

There is also a fresh book on pytest, check it out:

• Python Testing with pytest

Answer 2

what python unit testing packages are available and what their community adoption rates are.

Very interesting question, it will be hard to provide a precious answer on their adoption rates, but from my personal experience, python unit testing frameworks on the markets are:

• unittest, also known as PyUnit. It is a very popular generic test framework. unittest doc
• TestOOB, an extended version of unittest, TestOOB link
• Nose, this is a very interesting testing framework. Nose introduction link An extended introduction on Nose

The three test frameworks should provide you with enough to cover any testing project.