[Python-ideas] Builtin test function

[Fredrik Johansson]

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 11:48 AM, Steven D'Aprano <steve at pearwood.info> wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:59:08 pm Fredrik Johansson wrote:
>> There's been some discussion about automatic test discovery lately.
>> Here's a random (not in any way thought through) idea: add a builtin
>> function test() that runs tests associated with a given function,
>> class, module, or object.
>
> Improved testing is always welcome, but why a built-in?
>
> I know testing is important, but is it so common and important that we
> need it at our fingertips, so to speak, and can't even import a module
> first before running tests? What's the benefit to making it a built-in
> instead of part of a test module?

It would just be a convenience, and I'm just throwing the idea out.

The advantage would be a uniform and very simple interface for testing any
module, without having to know whether I should import doctest,
unittest or something else (and having to remember the commands
used by each framework). It would certainly not be a replacement for more
advanced test frameworks.

Fredrik