I prefer to get a failure instead of an error, so the bare assert is my least favorite, but obviously it accomplishes the same purpose so it's not a huge deal. I got into the habit of using self.assertEqual before I found out about _eq, so it actually scans faster for me personally, but if you're using nose already, the shortest way is probably best. As for consistency with older tests, that's a hobgoblin I'm comfortable with chipping away at over time.