Python unit test: Check equality of two lists

Last update on December 21 2024 07:48:50 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Write a Python unit test program that checks if two lists are equal.

Sample Solution:

Python Code:

# Import the 'unittest' module for writing unit tests.
import unittest

# Define a function 'lists_are_equal' to check if two lists are equal.
def lists_are_equal(nums1, nums2):
    return nums1 == nums2

# Define a test case class 'TestListsEquality' that inherits from 'unittest.TestCase'.
class TestListsEquality(unittest.TestCase):
    # Define a test method 'test_equal_lists' to test equal lists.
    def test_equal_lists(self):
        # Define two lists 'nums1' and 'nums2' for testing equal or unequal lists.
        nums1 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        nums2 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        # Uncomment one pair of 'nums1' and 'nums2' for testing equal or unequal lists.
        #nums1 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        #nums2 = [10, 20, 30, 50]
        print("\nEqual list test:\n", nums1, "\n", nums2)
        # Assert that the lists are equal.
        self.assertTrue(lists_are_equal(nums1, nums2), "The lists are not equal")

    # Define a test method 'test_unequal_lists' to test unequal lists.
    def test_unequal_lists(self):
        # Define two lists 'nums1' and 'nums2' for testing equal or unequal lists.
        nums1 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        nums2 = [30, 20, 10, 40]
        # Uncomment one pair of 'nums1' and 'nums2' for testing equal or unequal lists.
        #nums1 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        #nums2 = [10, 20, 30, 40]
        print("\nUnequal list test:\n", nums1, "\n", nums2)
        # Assert that the lists are not equal.
        self.assertFalse(lists_are_equal(nums1, nums2), "The lists are equal")

# Check if the script is run as the main program.
if __name__ == '__main__':
    # Run the test cases using 'unittest.main()'.
    unittest.main()

Sample Output:

Ran 2 tests in 0.001s
OK
Equal list test:
 [10, 20, 30, 40] 
 [10, 20, 30, 40]
Unequal list test:
 [10, 20, 30, 40] 
 [30, 20, 10, 40]

Ran 2 tests in 0.001s
FAILED (failures=2)
Equal list test:
 [10, 20, 30, 40] 
 [10, 20, 30, 50]
Unequal list test:
 [10, 20, 30, 40] 
 [10, 20, 30, 40]

Explanation:

In the above exercise, we have a function lists_are_equal(nums1, nums2) that takes two lists as input and returns True if the lists are equal, and False otherwise. The TestListsEquality class inherits from unittest.TestCase, and we define two test methods: test_equal_lists and test_unequal_lists.

Flowchart:

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