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phpunit

Expert PHPUnit testing assistance covering PHP assertions, data providers, and test doubles. Use when writing unit and functional tests for PHP, Laravel, Symfony, or WordPress.

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October 1, 2026 at 16:38
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phpunit
description
Expert PHPUnit testing assistance covering PHP assertions, data providers, and test doubles. Use when writing unit and functional tests for PHP, Laravel, Symfony, or WordPress.
# PHPUnit PHPUnit is the standard unit testing framework for the PHP ecosystem. Examples include usage in Laravel, Symfony, and WordPress. ## When to Use - **PHP Standard Testing Framework**: The official, universal testing framework for Laravel, Symfony, and modern PHP applications. - **Unit and Integration Testing**: Testing PHP domain models, services, controllers, and database interactions. - **Data Providers for Parameterized Tests**: Running tests against multi-dimensional test datasets using `@dataProvider`. - **Mocking & Test Doubles**: Generating mock objects and verifying invocation expectations natively without external libraries. ## Quick Start ```php <?php use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase; final class StackTest extends TestCase { public function testPushAndPop(): void { $stack = []; $this->assertEmpty($stack); array_push($stack, 'foo'); $this->assertNotEmpty($stack); $this->assertEquals('foo', array_pop($stack)); } } ``` ## Core Concepts ### PHPUnit Test Case Structure Extends `TestCase` and leverages modern PHP 8 attributes: ```php <?php use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase; use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\Test; use PHPUnit\Framework\Attributes\DataProvider; final class CurrencyConverterTest extends TestCase { #[Test] #[DataProvider('currencyProvider')] public function it_converts_usd_to_eur(float $usd, float $expectedEur): void { $converter = new CurrencyConverter(exchangeRate: 0.92); $this->assertEqualsWithDelta($expectedEur, $converter->toEur($usd), 0.01); } public static function currencyProvider(): array { return [ 'zero value' => [0.0, 0.0], 'standard transaction' => [100.0, 92.0], 'fractional amount' => [10.50, 9.66], ]; } } ``` ### Native Mock Objects Stubs methods and asserts on invocation parameters: ```php public function testPaymentServiceSendsNotification(): void { $mailerMock = $this->createMock(MailerInterface::class); $mailerMock->expects($this->once()) ->method('send') ->with($this->equalTo('user@example.com')); $service = new PaymentService($mailerMock); $service->processPayment('user@example.com', 50); } ``` ### Declarative phpunit.xml Configuration Configures test suites, environment variables, and coverage enforcement: ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <phpunit xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="vendor/phpunit/phpunit/phpunit.xsd" bootstrap="vendor/autoload.php" colors="true" cacheDirectory=".phpunit.cache"> <testsuites> <testsuite name="Unit"> <directory>tests/Unit</directory> </testsuite> </testsuites> <source> <include><directory>src</directory></include> </source> </phpunit> ``` ## Common Patterns ### Data Providers for Clean Test Matrices **Problem**: Writing multiple separate test methods to validate email formatting regex rules. **Solution**: Use PHPUnit Data Providers: ```php use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase; class ValidatorTest extends TestCase { /** * @dataProvider emailProvider */ public function testEmailValidation(string $email, bool $expected): void { $validator = new EmailValidator(); $this->assertSame($expected, $validator->isValid($email)); } public static function emailProvider(): array { return [ ['test@example.com', true], ['invalid-email', false], ['user@sub.domain.org', true], ['', false], ]; } } ``` ## Best Practices **Do**: - Adopt PHP 8 Attributes: Use `#[Test]` and `#[DataProvider]` instead of legacy docblock annotations (`@test`). - Use Static Data Providers: Ensure all data provider methods are declared as `public static`. - Run with `--colors=always --testdox`: Produce clean, human-readable test output in local terminals and CI. - Enforce Strict Types in Tests: Add `declare(strict_types=1);` at the top of all test files. **Don't**: - Use `@runInSeparateProcess` unless strictly necessary: Process isolation adds severe performance overhead. - Use `assertEquals` on floats: Use `assertEqualsWithDelta` to avoid floating point precision failures. - Catch exceptions manually: Use `$this->expectException(CustomException::class)` to assert on thrown errors. ## Troubleshooting | Error | Cause | Solution | | :----------------------------------------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `Class 'PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase' not found` | Composer autoload missing or PHPUnit not installed via Composer. | Run `composer dump-autoload` and execute via `./vendor/bin/phpunit`. | | `Failed asserting that false is true` | Method assertion failed. | Add custom failure message: `$this->assertTrue($val, 'Custom message')`. | | `Risky Test: This test did not perform any assertions` | Test executed code without performing explicit `$this->assert*`. | Add assertion or mark with `@doesNotPerformAssertions` annotation. | ## References - [PHPUnit Documentation](https://phpunit.de/documentation.html)
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