Building QM2: A Modern, Dockerized CLI Quiz Engine with 330+ Tests

[MyrinNew]

🚀 The Mission

Most quiz applications are web-based, but I wanted something that lives where I spend most of my time: the terminal. I built QM2 — a robust, interactive quiz engine designed for developers and power users who value speed, efficiency, and a clean "brutalist" UI.


🛠️ The Tech Stack

To make a CLI feel like a professional product, I relied on some of the best libraries in the Python ecosystem:

• Rich: For the beautiful, colored interface and real-time feedback.
• Questionary: To handle complex interactive prompts and menus.
• Platformdirs: Ensuring data is stored correctly whether you are on Windows, macOS, or Linux.
• Docker: For those who want to run the engine in a completely isolated environment.

🏗️ Engineered for Reliability

As a developer, I believe that if it's not tested, it's broken.

• 330 Individual Tests: Ensuring the core logic remains rock-solid as the project grows.
• 86% Coverage: Backed by a strict CI/CD pipeline.
• OIDC Publishing: Secure, token-less deployment to PyPI via GitHub Actions.

✨ Key Features

• 4 Question Types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Fill-in-the-blank, and Matching.
• Flashcards Mode: Stress-free learning without the pressure of a timer.
• Data Portability: Full support for bidirectional CSV ↔ JSON conversion. You can even import quizzes directly from a URL!
• Category Management: Organize your learning into hierarchical structures (e.g., programming/python/basics).

📦 Installation & Quick Start

You can get up and running in seconds:

pip install qm2

qm2


Or via Docker to keep your system clean:


docker build -t qm2 .

docker run -it -v qm2_data:/root/.local/share/qm2 qm2


📖 Deep Dive into Data

I designed the question format to be as human-readable as possible. Whether you prefer JSON for precision or CSV for bulk editing in Excel, QM2 handles both:

JSON


{

"type": "match",

"question": "Match programming languages with their types",

"pairs": {

"left": ["Python", "C++"],

"right": ["Interpreted", "Compiled"],

"answers": { "a": "1", "b": "2" }

}

}


🗺️ What's Next?

"With the release of v1.0.25, QM2 has officially moved out of beta. The core is now stable, and I am shifting focus towards expanding the ecosystem."

• AI Integration: Generating quizzes automatically from your documentation.
• Plugin System: Allowing the community to build their own extensions.

🔗 Links & Support

If you're a CLI enthusiast, I'd love for you to try it out and give me your feedback!

• 📦 PyPI: pypi.org/project/qm2
• 💻 GitHub: ahalvadzija/qm2
• 📖 Docs: ahalvadzija.github.io/qm2

I’m curious — what is your favorite library for building CLI tools in Python? Let's discuss in the comments!




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