Agile development cheat sheet
Agile development work cycle
1. Write tests that define your application
2. Write simplest version of the code
3. Run the tests and debug until all tests pass
4. Optimize only at this point
5. Go back to 3 until necessary
Reacting to bugs
1. Use debugger to isolate bug
2. Add test case that reproduces bug to test suite
3. Correct the bug
4. Check that all tests pass
Implementing new features
1. Write tests for new features
2. Write new features in the simplest possible way
(follow the agile development work cycle)
3. Refactor
SVN cheatsheet
Check-out an SVN repository
svn co URL [PATH]
Basic work cycle
1. Update your working copy:
svn update
2. Make changes
svn add
svn delete
svn copy
svn move
3. Examine your changes
svn status
svn diff
svn revert
4. Merge others’ changes into your working copy
svn update
svn resolved
5. Commit your changes
svn commit –m”meaningful message”
Miscellaneous tools cheatsheet
pydoc
pydoc module_name text output
pydoc – w module_name html output
pydoc –g open graphical interface
pylint
pylint display very long list with all options
pylint filename.py check file for consistency with standards
pylint module check module
unittest cheatsheet
Basic structure of a test suite
import unittest
class FirstTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
"""setUp is called before every test"""
pass
def tearDown(self):
"""tearDown is called at the end of every test"""
pass
def testtruisms(self):
"""All methods beginning with ‘test’ are executed"""
self.assertTrue(True)
self.assertFalse(False)
class SecondTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
def testapproximation(self):
self.assertAlmostEqual(1.1, 1.15, 1)
if __name__ == '__main__':
# run all TestCase's in this module
unittest.main()
Assert methods in unittest.TestCase
Most assert methods accept an optional msg argument, which is used as an explanation for the error.
assert_(expr[, msg) Fail if expr is False
assertTrue(expr[, msg])
assertFalse(expr[, msg]) Fail if expr is True
assertEqual(first, second[, msg]) Fail if first is not equal to second
assertNotEqual(first, second[, msg]) Fail if first is equal to second
assertAlmostEqual(first, second Fail if first is equal to second up to the
[, places[, msg]]) decimal place indicated by places (default: 7)
assertNotAlmostEqual(first, second Fail if first is not equal to second up to the
[, places[, msg]]) decimal place indicated by places (default: 7)
assertRaises(exception, callable, ...) Fail if the function callable does not raise an
exception of class exception. If additional
positional or keyword arguments are given,
they are passed to callable.
fail([msg]) Always fail
cProfile cheatsheet
Invoking the profiler
From the command line:
python -m cProfile [-o output_file] [-s sort_order] myscript.py
sort_order is one of ‘calls’, ‘cumulative’, ‘name’, …
(see cProfile documentation for more)
From interactive shell / code:
import cProfile
cProfile.run(expression[, "filename.profile"])
Looking at saved statistics
From interactive shell / code:
import pstat
p = pstat.Stats("filename.profile")
p.sort_stats(sort_order)
p.print_stats()
Simple graphical description (needs RunSnakeRun):
runsnake filename.profile
timeit cheatsheet
Execute expression one million times, return elapsed time in seconds:
from timeit import Timer
Timer("module.function(arg1, arg2)", "import module").timeit()
For a more precise control of timing, use the repeat method; it returns a list of repeated
measurements, in seconds:
t = Timer("module.function(arg1, arg2)", "import module")
# make 3 measurements of timing, repeat 2 million times
t.repeat(3, 2000000)
pdb cheatsheet
Invoking the debugger
Enter at the start of a program, from the command line:
python –m pdb mycode.py
Enter in a statement or function:
import pdb
# your code here
if __name__ == '__main__':
# start debugger at the beginning of a function
pdb.runcall(function[, argument, ...])
# execute an expression (string) under the debugger
pdb.run(expression)
Enter at a specific point in the code:
import pdb
# some code here
# the debugger starts here
pdb.set_trace()
# rest of the code
In ipython:
%pdb enter the debugger automatically after an exception is raised
%debug enter the debugger post-mortem where the exception was thrown
Debugger commands
h (help) [command] print help about command
n (next) execute current line of code, go to next line
c (continue) continue executing the program until next
breakpoint, exception, or end of the program
s (step into) execute current line of code; if a function is
called, follow execution inside the function
l (list) print code around the current line
w (where) show a trace of the function call that led to the
current line
p (print) print the value of a variable
q (quit) leave the debugger
b (break) [lineno | function[, condition]] set a breakpoint at a given line number or
function, stop execution there if condition is
fulfilled
cl (clear) clear a breakpoint
! (execute) execute a python command
<enter> repeat last command
