doc: clarify the behavior of approx

[natmokval]

A small documentation fix to clarify the behavior of approx.

closes #13218

[The-Compiler]

This seems like a very special case, so IMHO this should be mentioned somewhere further down with the other notes, but certainly not in the first two sentences before even explaining what the function is there for.

[natmokval]

This seems like a very special case, so IMHO this should be mentioned somewhere further down with the other notes, but certainly not in the first two sentences before even explaining what the function is there for.

Thanks @The-Compiler for your comment. I moved the note further down as you suggested and added an example. Could you please take a look at my update?

[nicoddemus]

I like the note and the example, but how about moving this to a proper .. note:: section, similar to the one we have at the bottom?

pytest/src/_pytest/python_api.py

Lines 684 to 693 in 9a7dbd8

	.. note::
	``approx`` can handle numpy arrays, but we recommend the
	specialised test helpers in :std:doc:`numpy:reference/routines.testing`
	if you need support for comparisons, NaNs, or ULP-based tolerances.
	To match strings using regex, you can use
	`Matches <https://github.com/asottile/re-assert#re_assertmatchespattern-str-args-kwargs>`_
	from the
	`re_assert package <https://github.com/asottile/re-assert>`_.

I would add your section under a .. note:: after that one about numpy arrays.

[natmokval]

Thanks @nicoddemus for reviewing this PR!

I just pushed a commit to address your comment. CI is green.

[patchback]

Backport to 8.3.x: 💚 backport PR created

✅ Backport PR branch: patchback/backports/8.3.x/6964cf105e6256682271e5bc1ad32c08a58df4bc/pr-13341

Backported as #13352

🤖 @patchback
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[nicoddemus]

Thanks @natmokval!