Test-Driven Development with Python, 3rd Edition

Chapter 8. Prettification: Layout and Styling, and What to Test About It

We’re starting to think about releasing the first version of our site, but we’re a bit embarrassed by how unfinished it looks at the moment. In this chapter, we’ll cover some of the basics of styling, including integrating an HTML/CSS framework called Bootstrap. We’ll learn how static files work in Django, and what we need to do about testing them.

Testing Layout and Style

Our site is undeniably a bit unattractive at the moment (Figure 8-1).

Note

If you spin up your dev server with manage.py runserver, you may run into a database error, something like this: “OperationalError: no such table: lists_list”. You need to update your local database to reflect the changes we made in models.py. Use manage.py migrate. If it gives you any grief about IntegrityErrors, just delete the database file.¹

We can’t be going back to Python’s historical reputation for being ugly, so let’s do a tiny bit of polishing. Here are a few things we might want:

• A large input field for adding to new and existing lists

• A large, attention-grabbing, centered box to put it in

How do we apply TDD to these things? Most people will tell you that you shouldn’t test aesthetics, and they’re right. It’s a bit like testing a constant, in that tests usually wouldn’t add any value.

Figure 8-1. Our home page, looking a little ugly…​

But ...