.. _`setuptools installation`: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/setuptools


==================
Quickstart
==================

.. _here: ../download.html#no-setuptools


With a `setuptools installation`_  (otherwise see here_) you can type::

    easy_install -U py 

On Linux systems you may need to execute this as the superuser and
on Windows you might need to write down the full path to ``easy_install``. 

Now create a file ``test_sample.py`` with the following content: 

.. sourcecode:: python 

    # content of test_sample.py 
    def func(x):
        return x + 1
    def test_answer():
        assert f(3) == 5

You can now run the test file like this::

    py.test test_sample.py

and will see output like this:

.. sourcecode:: python 

    =========================== test session starts ============================
    python: platform linux2 -- Python 2.6.2
    test object 1: test_sample.py

    test_sample.py F

    ================================= FAILURES =================================
    _______________________________ test_answer ________________________________

        def test_answer():
    >       assert func(3) == 5
    E       assert 4 == 5
    E        +  where 4 = func(3)

    test_sample.py:6: AssertionError
    ========================= 1 failed in 0.08 seconds =========================

This output contains Python interpreter information, a list of test objects, 
a progress report and important details of the failure. 

**Where to go from here**

`tutorials`_: a collection of starting points with code examples

`features`_: overview and description of test features

`contact`_: many ways for feedback and questions 

.. _`contact`: ../contact.html
.. _`automatically collected`: features.html#autocollect
.. _download: ../download.html
.. _features: features.html
.. _tutorials: talks.html