cmu-delphi/delphi-epidata

Unit tests (even server unit tests) should not make network calls

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#985 opened on Sep 28, 2022

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Description

The following three tests failed when one of our volunteers was trying to run unit tests without having set up the integration test prerequisites. This shouldn't have been a problem, since the point of unit tests is to check the smallest units of functionality, mocking out more complex functions (like network connections).

It's not immediately obvious why these tests were making network calls -- I suspect that something in _common attempts to connect to the database on import.

We should do one of the following:

  • (ideal) figure out how to properly mock out network calls for flask tests
  • (or if that is not possible) move these tests to the integrations section

Contributor guide

Research direction
Investigate why the mentioned test files make network calls despite being unit tests. Trace the import path in common.py to see if it triggers database connections. Then, implement proper mocking for Flask tests using libraries like unittest.mock or pytest mock.
Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Test
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
Pythonpytestmocking
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65