Python assertIsInstance()

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Python assertIsInstance() method to test if an object is an instance of a class.

Introduction to the Python assertIsInstance() method

The assertIsInstance() is a method of the TestCase class of the unittest module. The assertIsInstance() method tests if an object is an instance of a class.

The following shows the syntax of the assertIsInstance() method:

assertIsInstance(obj, cls, msg=None)Code language: Python (python)

In this syntax:

• obj is the object to test.
• cls is a class or a tuple of classes.
• msg is an optional string that will be displayed if the obj is not an instance of the cls class.

Internally, the assertIsInstance() uses the isinstance() function to check if the object is an instance of the cls class.

If the cls is not the class of the obj but the base class of the class of the obj, the test will also pass.

Since the object class is the base class of all classes, the assertIsInstance(obj, object) will always pass.

Python assertIsInstance() method examples

Let’s create a shape.py module with two classes Shape and Square. The Shape class is the base class of the Square class:

class Shape:
    pass


class Square(Shape):
    passCode language: Python (python)

To make it simple, the Shape and Square classes have no implementation.

1) Using the Python assertIsInstance() method example

The following example uses the assertIsInstance() method to test if the square object is an instance of the Square class:

import unittest

from shape import Shape, Square


class TestShape(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.square = Square()

    def test_is_instance(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Square)Code language: Python (python)

Run the test:

python -m unittest -vCode language: Python (python)

Output:

test_is_instance (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 1 test in 0.001s

OKCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Because the square instance variable is an object of the Square class, the test passes.

2) Using the Python assertIsInstance() method with a base class example

The following example uses the assertIsInstance() method to test if the square is an instance of the Shape class:

import unittest

from shape import Shape, Square


class TestShape(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.square = Square()

    def test_is_instance(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Square)

    def test_is_instance_of_parent_class(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Shape)Code language: Python (python)

Run the test:

python -m unittest -vCode language: Python (python)

Output:

test_is_instance (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_instance_of_parent_class (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 2 tests in 0.001s

OKCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

3) Using the Python assertIsInstance() method to test if an object is an instance of the object class

The following example uses assertIsInstance() method to test if the square instance variable is an instance of the object class:

import unittest

from shape import Shape, Square


class TestShape(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.square = Square()

    def test_is_instance(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Square)

    def test_is_instance_of_parent_class(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Shape)

    def test_is_instance_of_object(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, object)Code language: Python (python)

Run the test:

python -m unittest -vCode language: Python (python)

Output:

test_is_instance (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_instance_of_object (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_instance_of_parent_class (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 3 tests in 0.001s

OKCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Python assertIsNotInstance() method

The assertIsNotInstance() is the opposite of the assertIsInstance() method. It tests if an object is not an instance of a class:

assertNotIsInstance(obj, cls, msg=None)Code language: Python (python)

For example:

import unittest

from shape import Shape, Square


class TestShape(unittest.TestCase):
    def setUp(self):
        self.square = Square()

    def test_is_instance(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Square)

    def test_is_instance_of_parent_class(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, Shape)

    def test_is_instance_of_object(self):
        self.assertIsInstance(self.square, object)

    def test_is_not_instance(self):
        shape = Shape()
        self.assertNotIsInstance(shape, Square)Code language: Python (python)

In this example, the test_is_not_instance() method uses the assertIsNotInstance() method to test if a Shape object is an instance of the Square class.

Run the test:

python -m unittest -vCode language: Python (python)

Output:

test_is_instance (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_instance_of_object (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_instance_of_parent_class (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok
test_is_not_instance (test_shape.TestShape) ... ok

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ran 4 tests in 0.002s

OKCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Summary

• Use the assertIsInstance() method to test if an object is an instance of a class.
• Use the assertIsNotInstance() method to test if an object is not an instance of a class.