TODO or Die Python

A common technique for developers is to comment TODO or FIXME above a block of code when they need a reminder to fix a bug, make a change, or refactor something. However, most times we see these notes go unattended for vast periods of time, often indefinitely.

This iteration of TODO or Die solves this issue by allowing developers to assign a due date to their TODOs. An error is raised after passing of the specified date, forcing you to handle your fix.

Installation

Put this in your requirements.txt:

todo_or_die_python

or install with pip:

pip install todo_or_die_python

Usage

Import the todo_or_die function:

from todo_or_die import todo_or_die

Param Name	Type	Required	Description
message	string	Yes	The message that you'd otherwise be commenting.
by	string or datetime	No	The due date you want to complete your TODO by. Accepts a string in the formt %Y-%m-%d (i.e. 2021-09-29), or a DateTime object. Leaving this field empty throws an error immediately.

Production Usage

This package will attempt to find environment variables that suggest if the app is being run in a production environment. If one of these env variables is found, then a warning will be displaying instead of an error being raised. The package looks for the following key-value pairs:

• PRODUCTION=true
• DJANGO_ENVIRONMENT=production
• ENVIRONMENT=production
• FLASK_ENV=production

Error Handling

When a due date is passed, an OverdueError is raised in development. In a production environment, an OverdueWarning is warned.

If called from a function, the due date check will only be executed when that function is run.

If called from top level in a script, or outside of a function inside a class, the due date check will be executed when the file or class is loaded, respectively.

Examples

from todo_or_die import todo_or_die

# Throws an error immediately
todo_or_die("Use random() instead")
def random_number():
    return 7

# Throws an error becuase this date has passed
todo_or_die("Make more secure", "2020-01-01")
def password_generator():
    return "password"

# Won't throw an error until May 31st, 2029
def add_7_to_input(input):
    todo_or_die("Make more secure", "2029-05-31")
    return input

Potential Future Features

• Can set specific TODOs to warn only
• Add env variable to skip all TODO due date checks
• Allow for custom die method calls, catches, and message

Credits

Idea came from searls' Ruby implementation and davidpdrsn's Rust implementation