Apologies to the Python community

Apparently planet python is pulling all content off this blog to its RSS feed. Which meant a rant I wrote this morning that was completely off topic went to the entire Python community. I'm contacting the staff behind planet.python.org and asking that they point at the correct feed so this doesn't happen again.

I hate Mac & Cheese

I'm not a picky eater. I'm willing to eat every meat that is legal in the United States and wouldn't mind traveling to places where the laws are different. I have this strange desire to try pickled insects in a third world nation. I often eat things I don't like, such as eggplant.

However, the truth is that I really loathe mac & cheese. I hate cooking it, I hate eating it, I hate cleaning up after it. I've thrown away pots that have been used to cook it. I claim to be different because I despise this American staple, and silly as you may think it may be it is my preference not to have anything to do with cheesy pasta. Heck, it ain't even healthy.

Note: I sometimes like some cheese on top of tomato based sauces or chili that has pasta mixed into it. This is not the same thing as mac & cheese.

Yet the complication I face is that I have dear friends and family who think that their prize-winning homemade mac & cheese made from imported unpasteurized cheese will be something that I love. That I'll change and they'll get the chance to smugly say that it was the quality of what I've eaten that discouraged me.

That won't happen.

I've been forced to try everything from Kraft mac & cheese to gourmet cheesy pasta prepared by chefs I otherwise respect. I've had it dumped on my plate on picnics and in fancy restaurants. I've had the people proudly insist I try their recipe all while making it clear that they would take it as a personal insult if I didn't try it and would also take it as a personal insult if I didn't like it.

And you know what?

I hated it. Its vile. Its disgusting.

Please stop insisting that I try your concoction. You aren't going to change me.

My little unit test trick

This is an oldie but a goodie.

I love writing unit tests for Python code. It makes me so happy seeing the little dots go by. Add in some coverage.py and you can even make a game out of how much your code is covered. Of course, adding in Hudson just makes it even better.

However, sometimes when your unit tests get sophisticated it can be a pain to introspect via the Python shell (REPL) on one terminal shell and then go back to the unittest. Especially when the unit tests get even the least bit sophisticated. In the shell you can forget steps since you are entering things manually.

So as soon as things get the least bit complicated I simply start using the Python help() function and pdb library inside my test code. For example:

class MyTests(unittest):
    def test_pretending_to_be_complex(self):
        ...
        complex_object = really_complex_actions()
        ...
        
        # help demonstration
        help(complex_object)

        # PDB example cause everyone loves that too.
        import pdb        
        pdb.set_trace()

So what does this give you? Well, the help() function acts here exactly the same way it does from the Python shell. It stops the code processing and lets you do introspection. pdb lets you step through things with joy.

Try it out!

EDIT: Of course, you probably wouldn't use both help and pdb. Thats because you can call help() inside of PDB. My example just shows you available options. Thanks to Gary for pointing this out!