ward

Ward is a Python testing framework with a focus on productivity and readability. It gives you the tools you need to write well-documented and scalable tests.

Features

See the full set of features in the documentation.

Descriptive test names: describe what your tests do using strings, not function names.

@test("simple addition")  # you can use markdown in these descriptions!
def _():
    assert 1 + 2 == 3  # you can use plain assert statements!

Modular test dependencies: manage test setup/teardown code using fixtures that rely on Python's import system, not name matching.

@fixture
def user():
    return User(name="darren")


@test("the user is called darren")
def _(u=user):
    assert u.name == "darren"

Support for asyncio: define your tests and fixtures with async def and call asynchronous code within them.

@fixture
async def user():
    u = await create_user()
    return await u.login()


@test("the logged in user has a last session date")
async def _(user=user):
    last_session = await get_last_session_date(user.id)
    assert is_recent(last_session, get_last_session_date)

Powerful test selection: limit your test run not only by matching test names/descriptions, but also on the code contained in the body of the test.

ward --search "Database.get_all_users"

Or use tag expressions for more powerful filtering.

ward --tags "(unit or integration) and not slow"

Parameterised testing: write a test once, and run it multiple times with different inputs by writing it in a loop.

for lhs, rhs, res in [
    (1, 1, 2),
    (2, 3, 5),
]:

    @test("simple addition")
    def _(left=lhs, right=rhs, result=res):
        assert left + right == result

Cross platform: Tested on Mac OS, Linux, and Windows.

Speedy: Ward's suite of ~320 tests run in less than half a second on my machine.

Zero config: Sensible defaults mean running ward with no arguments is enough to get started. Can be configured using pyproject.toml or the command line if required.

Extendable: Ward has a plugin system built with pluggy, the same framework used by pytest.

Colourful, human readable output: quickly pinpoint and fix issues with detailed output for failing tests.

Getting Started

Have a look at the documentation!

How to Contribute

Contributions are very welcome and encouraged!

See the contributing guide for information on how you can take part in the development of Ward.