PHP
Test data management is one of the most neglected parts of a test suite. Tests that rely on a specific database state are brittle. Tests that build every object from scratch are verbose and hard to read. Getting it right — using the right tool for each scenario — makes your tests
Testing
Code coverage tells you which lines were executed during tests. It says nothing about whether those tests actually verify anything. A test that calls every function but makes no assertions gets 100% code coverage. Mutation testing fixes this. Infection, the PHP mutation testing framework, modifies your code in small ways
PHP
Unit tests with mocks are fast and isolated, but they don't catch the class of bugs that only appear when real SQL runs against a real schema — constraint violations, wrong joins, missing indexes, transaction rollbacks that don't behave as expected. Integration testing with real databases finds
PHP
Code coverage tells you which lines your tests execute. Mutation testing tells you whether your tests actually catch bugs. These are very different things — and the gap between them is where silent regressions live. Infection is the leading mutation testing framework for PHP. It works by making small, deliberate changes
PHP
Architecture decisions decay silently. A developer in a hurry imports a database model directly into a controller action. Another adds a framework dependency to a domain class. Each violation seems small, but they compound into a codebase where "clean architecture" is a historical fiction. Architecture testing tools make
PHP
When your PHP application talks to external APIs — payment gateways, shipping providers, weather services, anything — your tests shouldn't actually call those APIs. Real HTTP calls are slow, flaky, rate-limited, and costly. Worse, they make your test suite dependent on external uptime. Guzzle, the most widely used PHP
Laravel
Pest PHP goes far beyond basic test syntax. This post explores higher-order tests, custom expectations, datasets, lifecycle hooks, and parallel test execution — the patterns that make large Laravel test suites fast and maintainable. Pest PHP has become the default testing framework for many Laravel teams, not just because of
Testing
A PHPUnit test suite that takes 10 minutes to run is a test suite that developers learn to avoid.
Testing
Drupal 10 ships with three PHPUnit test types: Unit (no Drupal), Kernel (real services, no browser), and Functional (full browser via BrowserKit). Each type makes different trade-offs between speed and coverage depth. This guide explains when to use each and how to write effective tests for custom modules. Key
Testing
WordPress plugin unit tests don't need a running WordPress install. WP_Mock and Brain\Monkey let you mock WordPress functions, hooks, and globals so your PHPUnit tests run in isolation — fast, deterministic, and CI-friendly. This guide shows how to set up both tools and write meaningful tests
PHP
Code coverage is one of those metrics that developers either obsess over or dismiss entirely.
PHP
Infection is the leading mutation testing framework for PHP. It operates on the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) level — generating mutants by altering your source code according to predefined mutation operators — then running your test suite against each change. A test suite that kills 80%+ of mutants provides much stronger behavioral