Modern PHP

Chapter 10. Testing

Testing is an important part of PHP application development, but it is often neglected. I think many PHP developers don’t test because they consider testing an unnecessary burden that requires too much time for too few benefits. Other developers may not know how to test, because there are a large number of testing tools and an overwhelming learning curve.

In this chapter I hope to dispel these misunderstandings. I want you to feel comfortable and excited about testing your PHP code. I want you to consider testing an integral part of your workflow that happens at the beginning, middle, and end of the application development process.

Why Do We Test?

We write tests to ensure that our PHP applications work, and continue to work, according to our expectations. It’s as simple as that. How often have you been afraid to deploy an application into production? Before I started testing my code, I was terrified to push a release into production. Would my code work? Would it break? All I could do was cross my fingers and hope for the best. This is no way to code. It’s scary and stressful, and it usually ends in frustration. Tests, however, mitigate uncertainty, and they let us write and deploy code with confidence.

Your pointy-haired boss may argue that there isn’t enough time to write tests. After all, time is money. This is shortsighted. Installing a testing infrastructure and writing tests takes time, but this is a wise investment that pays dividends into the future. ...