Why You Should Write Tests
Last week I started writing tests for my framework. I’ve got to be honest, I rarely write tests for my code. This was the first time I really wrote tests, but I recommend it.
It’s Easy
I was always under the impression that writing tests for code was complex. After writing some tests for PHPUnit, I was wrong. The class extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase and you’ve got a bunch of assertions methods. For example take a look at this code I’ve pulled right from my tests.
<?php
require 'test.bootstrap.php';
use TFD\Auth;
class AuthTest extends PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase {
/**
* Test Auth::login method.
*/
public function testLogin() {
$fingerprint = Auth::login('username', 'secret');
$this->assertInternalType('string', $fingerprint);
return $fingerprint;
}
/**
* Test Auth::valid method.
*
* @depends testLogin
*/
public function testValid($fingerprint) {
$this->assertTrue(Auth::valid($fingerprint, 'username', 'secret'));
}
}That took me less then ten minutes to write.
There’s No Guessing
When you write tests, you are making sure that something is working how it’s suppose to. There’s no guessing if it’s going to work. You write a test, if it passes, the code works, if it fails, there’s something wrong. When you change something you can verify that it still works by running the tests again.
It Automates Testing
Normally when I write code, I make sure it does what it’s supposed to do and then forget about it. For example with Tea-Fueled Does, I would create a route or add something to a view to make sure something’s working and then delete it. I would never test it again. With tests you can rerun those tests, and with PHPUnit, you can run all your tests in a single command.
It Creates Quality Code
How many times have you released something with bugs in it? I’ve done a couple commits where I find out later, I have a bug in it. Writing tests helps you prevent that.
Test-Driven Development is also a great development process. You write a test for a new function/method or an improvement and fix the code until it passes. This creates concise code.
Getting Started
PHPUnit’s docs are a great place to start. NetTuts’s also has an article on it SimpleTest, another PHP test suite.
Comments? I'm @mloberg on Twitter.
