How to unit test with random values
How do I unit test with random values? I need to ensure that it gen_age
returns an integer between 15 and 99, but this code is wrong.
import random
import unittest
def gen_age():
# generate integer between 15 and 99
return random.randint(15, 99)
class AgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.a = gen_age()
def test_choice(self):
element = random.choice(self.a)
self.assertTrue(element in self.a)
def test_sample(self):
for element in random.sample(self.a, 98):
self.assertTrue(element in self.a)
if __name__ == '__main__':
unittest.main()
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The best way to test similar behavior is to set the seed to a Random object.
The Random package provides the Random class. Random instances have the same methods as a random package; random (), randint (), sample (), ... Additionally, Random accepts a seed. Adding a seed to Random makes it deterministic. For example,
from random import Random
random = Random(666)
assert random.randint(0, 1000) == 467 # will never break
Hence, you would like to test your function as
from random import Random
import unittest
random = Random()
def gen_age():
# generate integer between 15 and 99
return random.randint(15, 99)
class AgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
global random
random = Random(666)
def test_gen_age(self):
self.assertEqual(gen_age(), 53)
if __name__ == '__main__':
unittest.main()
Note that if your test is not in the same file, you will need to patch it randomly using unittest.mock.patch
. Something like this should work
from random import Random
from package.file import gen_age
import unittest
class AgeTest(unittest.TestCase):
def setUp(self):
self.random = Random(666)
@patch('package.file.random')
def test_gen_age(self, random):
random.randint._mock_side_effect = self.random.randint
self.assertEqual(gen_age(), 53)
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It should be something like this:
def test_GenAge_ReturnIsBetween15And99(self):
self.assertTrue(self.a >=15 and self.a <= 99);
But you don't really need to check the gen_age function at this time. You are trying to check the python based random generator API, but what is the reason? I do not see.
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