Frameworks to use while testing PHP applications
In the development process of any kind of programming language, testing proves to be an essential aspect. Unless the source code is tested, you will not be able to verify whether it works as expected or not. The performance of manual testing is an irregular process which is quite limited. So for regular testing of source codes, writing automated tests is a must so that they can be executed frequently. Unit testing frameworks are generally needed while writing such tests in PHP. The framework allows source codes of any library or application to be evaluated as isolated functionality units. For evaluation of PHP applications, there are basically three methods- Simple Test of Marcus Baker, PHPUnit of Sebastian Bergmann and phpt which is reliable but somehow very less used.
Simple Test
At Simple Test’s heart is the evaluation framework which is constructed around test case classes. The writing is done with extensions of test case classes which act as the base. Each of the extension is done through methods which contain the actual test code. Various assertions expected to be true will be invoked in the method in which test case class is written. With correct expectations, successful results will be dispatched to test reporters observing everything. But with failures or unexpected exceptions, an alert is triggered with description of mismatch. The transformation of test case declarations to executable test scripts is done through inclusion of Simple Test Aurorun.php file.
The tool is mainly developer-oriented with the target audience being those who develop medium as well as small PHP applications. Developers who are new to regression as well as unit testing find it appealing as well. The language itself is used for the writing of the tests. The easy to use core principles, essential as well as extendibility are the things that attract most people to this framework.
PHPUnit
A very popular automated framework for PHP application testing, PHPUnit helps in the creation of your very own tests. This is a simple framework which is inspired by JUnit. It resembles Simple Test very much and tests are organized into cases. The public methods of the class are individual as well as independent tests. There are two methods which are used for creation of Fixtures- tearDown and setUp. The fixtures act as common resources for every analysis in a single testing along with other repetitive resources or objects. For initialization of common pre-requisites, setUp is used before every individual test. For cleaning up of resources, tearDown is used after every examination. The role of assertion is important here as well. A web browser or console can be used for the running of PHPUnit tests. It can be easily used by installing it on Apache server through PEAR installer.
Phpt tests
Phpt tests are little scripts which are used internally by php as well as quality assurance teams so that the functionality of PHP can be tested. To write the test you need a basic knowledge and understanding of PHP language along with text editor and a method for getting the code’s results. Those who write and run PHP scripts already are ready to use this. It can be written on any of the several available php functions. Basic language function or function provided by any of numerous extensions of PHP can be used for writing of tests. Basically it should try to break the function by checking normal parameters of the functions along with edge cases.
So if you think your code is absolutely ready then it is time for you to check it automatically through the various methods of unit testing. Any of the above mentioned methods will give you the desired results. There may be some finer restrictions and advantages in each but the ultimate result is the same- a great error-free application. This would help you leverage the benefits of PHP development.
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