Brian Okken, a software engineer and engineering manager, is known as the "pytest storyteller." He first got involved in the pytest community in 2013 when he wrote a blog post comparing unittest, pytest, nose, and doctest. He fell in love with pytest and wrote a book called Python Testing with pytest.

Brian also runs a podcast called Python Test (formerly known as "The Python Testing Podcast"), where he talks to people about testing and explores tools and techniques. He aims to fill the gap in material on writing great tests as a developer. Recently, Brian has launched a video course on pytest, in which he covers topics in the same order as his book. The course includes extras, such as bash functions for creating and activating virtual environments, in-depth sections on TDD and BDD, and a video on using the dataclass attribute compare=False.

Brian highlights the awesomeness of running pytest tests using PyCharm. When asked about his top three features of pytest, Brian mentions fixtures, parametrization, and plugins and emphasizes the convenience of using plain assert statements and the flexibility of using functions instead of classes for writing tests. Brian recommends using both the command line and an IDE like PyCharm for pytest. PyCharm's run configuration editor allows easy access to command line flags and provides a special callout for keywords, making it easier to focus on specific tests.

Brian's pytest course is split into three parts: pytest Primary Power, pytest Working with Projects, and pytest Booster Rockets. The course covers everything in the book, as well as additional topics like maintaining software projects and building plugins. Students also gain access to a community package and a private Slack channel for asking questions. Overall, Brian aims to help students write effective tests using pytest and provide them with the knowledge and support to succeed in their testing endeavors.

Mostly, Brian spends his free time telling people they should write good, clean automated tests, specifically using pytest!