Book Image

Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging

Book Image

Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging

Overview of this book

Bugs are a time consuming burden during software development. Django's built-in test framework and debugging support help lessen this burden. This book will teach you quick and efficient techniques for using Django and Python tools to eradicate bugs and ensure your Django application works correctly. This book will walk you step by step through development of a complete sample Django application. You will learn how best to test and debug models, views, URL configuration, templates, and template tags. This book will help you integrate with and make use of the rich external environment of test and debugging tools for Python and Django applications. The book starts with a basic overview of testing. It will highlight areas to look out for while testing. You will learn about different kinds of tests available, and the pros and cons of each, and also details of test extensions provided by Django that simplify the task of testing Django applications. You will see an illustration of how external tools that provide even more sophisticated testing features can be integrated into Django's framework. On the debugging front, the book illustrates how to interpret the extensive debugging information provided by Django's debug error pages, and how to utilize logging and other external tools to learn what code is doing.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
Preface
Index

Summary


We have now reached the end of discussing techniques for getting more information about how Django application code is running. In this chapter, we:

  • Developed some template utility code to track what SQL requests are made during production of a page

  • Learned that creating re-usable general utility code can turn into more work than it might first seem to require

  • Learned how the Django Debug Toolbar can be used to get the same information as in our home-grown code in addition to more information, with much less effort

  • Discussed the usefulness of applying a general logging framework during code development, as opposed to relying on the ad-hoc "sprinkle print" method of debugging problems

With the use of these tools and techniques, we are able to glean a great deal of information about the working of our code. Having a good understanding of how the code behaves when it is working properly makes it much easier to debug problems when they occur. Furthermore, checking on exactly what the code...