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


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

This document assumes basic python knowledge.  If you have a
`setuptools installation`_, install ``py.test`` by typing::

    easy_install -U py 

For alternative installation methods please see the download_ page.  

You should now have a ``py.test`` command line tool and can
look at its documented cmdline options via this command::

    py.test -h  

Writing and running a test
==========================

``py.test`` is the command line tool to run tests.  
Let's write a first test module by putting the following
test function into a ``test_sample.py`` file::

    # content of test_sample.py 
    def test_answer():
        assert 42 == 43 

Now you can run the test by passing it as an argument::

  py.test test_sample.py

What does happen here?  ``py.test`` looks for functions and
methods in the module that start with ``test_``.  It then
executes those tests.  Assertions about test outcomes are
done via the standard ``assert`` statement.

You can also use ``py.test`` to run all tests in a directory structure by
invoking it without any arguments::

  py.test

This will automatically collect and run any Python module whose filenames 
start with ``test_`` or ends with ``_test`` from the directory and any
subdirectories, starting with the current directory, and run them. Each 
Python test module is inspected for test methods starting with ``test_``. 

.. Organising your tests 
.. ---------------------------

Please refer to `features`_ for a walk through the basic features. 


.. _download: ../download.html
.. _features: features.html