Testing PHP Applications: From Unit Tests to Acceptance Testing

Modern PHP development is impossible without proper testing. The book "Testing PHP Applications" is a practical guide that will help you master all aspects of writing tests: from simple unit tests to complex acceptance scenarios. The author, experienced developer Alexey Petrov, shares real-world cases and proven techniques that can be immediately applied in your work.

What is this book about?

The book covers the complete testing cycle for PHP applications. You will start with the basics: installing PHPUnit, writing your first tests, working with assertions. Then you will move on to advanced topics:

• Unit testing: isolated testing of classes and methods, using fixtures and data providers.
• Database testing: working with test databases, data seeding, testing Doctrine and Eloquent queries.
• Mock objects and stubs: creating stubs for external services (API, file systems, cache).
• Integration testing: checking component interactions, testing controllers and routes.
• Acceptance testing: using Codeception, Behat, and Selenium for end-to-end scenarios.
• TDD (Test-Driven Development): test-driven development methodology with practical examples.

Who is this book for?

The book will be useful for a wide range of PHP developers:

• Junior developers: who want to form good habits and learn to write tests from scratch.
• Middle developers: looking to deepen their knowledge, master mocks, stubs, and integration testing.
• Senior developers and team leads: who are implementing testing in their team, choosing tools, and setting up CI/CD.

What will you learn?

• How to properly organize the test structure of a project.
• How to test legacy code and refactor it under tests.
• How to work with external dependencies (API, databases, Redis) without pain.
• How to set up automatic test execution in CI (GitLab CI, GitHub Actions).
• How to measure test quality using code coverage and mutation testing.

The book contains many code examples that can be downloaded and run. All examples are based on real projects and popular frameworks (Laravel, Symfony). After reading, you will be able to confidently write tests for any PHP application and improve the quality of your code.

This is not just a reference guide — it is a practical manual that will become a desktop book for every PHP developer striving for professional growth.