Python, Java and many other languages support xUnit style testing. This typically involves the call of a setup (“fixture”) method before running a test function and teardown after it has finished. py.test supports a more fine-grained model of setup/teardown handling by optionally calling per-module and per-class hooks.
If you have multiple test functions and test classes in a single module you can optionally implement the following fixture methods which will usually be called once for all the functions:
def setup_module(module):
""" setup any state specific to the execution of the given module."""
def teardown_module(module):
""" teardown any state that was previously setup with a setup_module
method.
"""
Similarly, the following methods are called at class level before and after all test methods of the class are called:
@classmethod
def setup_class(cls):
""" setup any state specific to the execution of the given class (which
usually contains tests).
"""
@classmethod
def teardown_class(cls):
""" teardown any state that was previously setup with a call to
setup_class.
"""
Similarly, the following methods are called around each method invocation:
def setup_method(self, method):
""" setup any state tied to the execution of the given method in a
class. setup_method is invoked for every test method of a class.
"""
def teardown_method(self, method):
""" teardown any state that was previously setup with a setup_method
call.
"""
If you would rather define test functions directly at module level you can also use the following functions to implement fixtures:
def setup_function(function):
""" setup any state tied to the execution of the given function.
Invoked for every test function in the module.
"""
def teardown_function(function):
""" teardown any state that was previously setup with a setup_function
call.
"""
Note that it is possible for setup/teardown pairs to be invoked multiple times per testing process.