Writing Tests

NetKet’s tests are written using the PyTest framework. In particular, we make extensive use of pytest.parametrize in order to run the same test functions on different input types. We also use often pytest.fixture to initialize expensive objects only once among different tests.

Test structure and common files.

NetKet’s Test folder is a python module because every folder (aka, submodule) has an __init__.py file. Tests are grouped in submodules according to the NetKet’s submodule they tests. If you add a new submodule, you should add a new submodule to the tests too.

If you add a new file to netket, if might be a good idea to split it’s tests into a new file in the relevant submodule, too.

Common functions and methods used throughout our testing infrastructure are defined in the file test/common.py and every test is expected to use them if necessary. Some common fixtures are also defined inside test/conftest.py and are available to all tests. Those do not need to be imported explicitly, as pytest will take care of it.

Test Markers

NetKet uses pytest markers to categorize tests. Currently, the following markers are defined:

• @pytest.mark.slow: Marks tests that take a long time to run (typically >15 seconds). These tests are excluded from CI to keep build times reasonable, but are run locally during development.

Running Tests

To run all tests including slow ones:

pytest test/

To run tests excluding slow ones (same as CI):

pytest -m "not slow" test/

To run only slow tests:

pytest -m "slow" test/