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Getting Started with PHP Unit Testing

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Writing Your First Tests

4:56 with Alena Holligan

PHP Unit is built on assertions. These are actions that state something forcefully. Assertions is just a fancy way of saying true or false. These assertions describe how the code-under-test is supposed to be working. The vast majority of tests you write using PHPUnit will be using assertions.

Step 1

Install PHPUnit

composer require --dev phpunit/phpunit ^8

Step 2

Create a test folder and add your first test file, ending with Test.php

tests/FirstTest.php

Step 3

Add a class that extends from the PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase class.

class FirstTest extends PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase
{

}

Step 4

Add a test function, either named with "test" at the beginning, or using the @test annotation.

/** @test */
function firstAssertion()
{
    $this->assertTrue(false);
}

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    Let's start with a search for PHP Unit. 0:00
    The first result, it's PHPUnit.de which is what we want. 0:04
    We're going to choose Getting Started at the top, and 0:09
    then we see the versions four through eight. 0:12
    The version you choose is based off which PHP version you have installed. 0:15
    Since I'm using PHP 7.2 or later, I can go with PHPUnit 8. 0:19
    Like any good package, PHPUnit can be installed with Composer. 0:25
    Two things to know, first, it is not recommended to install PHPUnit globally. 0:30
    You should install it per project. 0:37
    Second, PHP unit is for 0:39
    testing on your development environment before you pushed production. 0:41
    So we want to install this for development using the dev flag. 0:47
    We'll be working in Visual Studio code where we have a built-in terminal. 0:52
    We're in a new empty directory named TESTING. 0:57
    From within this folder we can run composer require --dev phpunit/phpunit ^8. 1:00
    Once PHP Unit is installed, we're ready to write our first test. 1:10
    PHP unit is built on assertions. 1:15
    These are actions that state something forcefully. 1:18
    Assertions are just a fancy way of saying true or false. 1:22
    These assertions describe how the code on your test is supposed to be working. 1:26
    The vast majority of test that you write using PHP unit will be using assertions. 1:32
    There are some edge cases when dealing with testing for exceptions to be thrown. 1:38
    The simplest test and the good starting point or 1:43
    temporary place order is assertTrue (false), that's it, very simple. 1:46
    These assertions either fail or pass. 1:52
    They're either true or false. 1:56
    Since false is not true, this assertion would fail. 1:58
    To translate it into php unit, it looks like this, $this->assertTrue(false);. 2:02
    Let's write this as our first test. 2:09
    We'll start by creating a folder named tests. 2:12
    Then we'll add a new class file named FirstTest.php. 2:18
    We'll define a class named FirstTest that extends, 2:26
    PHP unit, framework, Test case. 2:33
    Then we can write a function for each test. 2:41
    We'll start with our true false assertion. 2:44
    Create a new function named first assertion. 2:47
    Then we can call this assertTrue and pass false. 2:53
    Now we want to run our test. 3:01
    PHP unit is primarily a command line script, so 3:03
    we'll be in our terminal just like we were for composer. 3:06
    From here, we can run vendor/bin/phpunit and 3:09
    then the path to our test file, tests/FirstTest.php. 3:15
    I get a warning that no tests were found. 3:21
    By default, if I don't start my function name with test, it won't be run as a test. 3:25
    Let's add a second function. 3:31
    Test second assertion. 3:36
    And we'll add this, assertTrue again And pass false. 3:43
    If everything works, we'll see our first failure. 3:53
    A failed test is marked with an F, and the message is displayed below. 3:57
    Failed asserting that false is true. 4:04
    Let's create a third assertion. 4:07
    This time, instead of studying our function name with test, 4:10
    we have a second option. 4:14
    We can use annotation in a method stuck block to market as a test method. 4:15
    Test, and now we can say function, 4:23
    third assertion. 4:28
    This time we'll use this->assertTrue and pass true. 4:31
    Now we see that we are running two tests. 4:37
    The first one fails with an F and the second one passes showing a dot. 4:41
    We also continue to see a failure message. 4:47
    Let's run the example from the PHP unit Getting Started page 4:51

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