Test-Driven Development with Python

Appendix A. PythonAnywhere

This book is based on the assumption that you’re running Python and coding on your own computer. Of course, that’s not the only way to code Python these days, you could use an online platform like PythonAnywhere (which is where I work, incidentally).

It is possible to follow along with the book on PythonAnywhere, but it does require several tweaks and changes — you’ll need to use a virtualenv from the very beginning, you’ll need to set up a web app instead of the test server, you’l need to use Xvfb to run the Functional Tests, and, once you get to the deployment chapters, you’ll need to upgrade to a paying account. So, it is possible, but it might be easier to follow along on your own PC.

With that caveat, if you’re still keen to give it a try, here are some details on what you need to do.

If you haven’t already, you’ll need to sign up for a PythonAnywhere account. A free one should be fine.

Then, start a Bash Console from the consoles page. That’s where we’ll do most of our work.

Starting a virtualenv

At the time of writing, PythonAnywhere had Django 1.6 as its default version under Python 3. Since we need a newer version than that, we’re going to use a virtualenv (in the book, we start using a virtualenv a bit later, in Chapter 8).

Here’s how to create a virtualenv named “superlists” and install Django and Selenium into it:

$ mkvirtualenv --python=/usr/bin/python3.4 superlists
Running virtualenv with interpreter /usr/bin/python3.4
Using base prefix /usr New ...