[docs] Specify that unittest.mock.patch.dict does not make a deepcopy
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Description
Documentation
I always assumed that unittest.mock.patch.dict made a recursive (deep) copy of the dict and restored it afterwards.
It turns out it is a "simple" copy()
We should maybe clarify that in the documentation
Example:
foo = {
"bar": {"baz": 1}
}
with patch.dict(foo, {"unrelated": 123}):
foo["bar"]["baz"] = 2
# baz will stay at 2, assumed it was reset to the original 1
Linked PRs
- gh-144434
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the unittest.mock.patch.dict documentation and review the existing explanation of how the dictionary is restored. Clarify that it uses a shallow copy rather than a recursive deepcopy, using the nested-dictionary example from the issue to show that inner changes remain. Check the documentation build after editing.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 1/5
- Estimated time
- Under an hour
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100