You cannot claim software as completely bugs free. However, companies need to adopt different methods to keep their software free from bugs. PHP is one of the most common scripting languages used for server-side development processes. If you are planning to build your web application using PHP language, you need to keep the bugs away. These bugs can severely affect your software performance and security. Here, through this post, we will introduce the top 10 PHP testing tools that you may use for the testing process.
Why Do You Need Testing Tools?
The primary goal of web developers is to ensure that their software works without glitches. To make your web application run smoothly, you need to use testing tools. Different kinds of PHP testing tools are available to ensure the efficiency of the code generated. Each tool offers different types of testing activities such as planning, requirement analysis, test execution, build creation, defect logging, as well as test analysis.
Top PHP Testing Tools You Must Know
Have a look at the top PHP testing tools to make your testing process easier. Let’s go!
DevKinsta
Devkinsta is among the free local web development packages. An exclusive tool designed to make local site development easier and more convenient. Get advantage of the local database and email management tool to help you enhance your development of themes, plugins, and custom sites. One of the major attractions is it can be used as a local web server for integration and functionality tests.
Key Features:
- Easy and quick to spin a new WordPress environment and delete it once it is not required.
- Quick integration with MyKinsta where users can external backup the website.
- Allow easy testing against any PHP-supported version and WordPress and other integrations.
PHPUnit
Are you looking for the most programmer-oriented framework for your WordPress plugins? PHPUnit is among the most popular PHP testing tools. The primary aim of using the tool is to make sure there are no issues found during the development process and no bugs appear after changes. The tool helps developers to find issues as soon as possible so they can smoothly reach the final stage of development. Hosted on GitHub, PHPUnit is used to verify the functionality and effects of the new PHP Codes added to your WordPress plugins.
Key Features:
- Testing New Features
- Validating New-Refactored Code
- Debugging
- Offer test-driven development (TDD) approach.
- Allows full automation and execution within a continuous integration process.
Mockery
Those looking for a flexible yet simple PHP testing tool can choose Mockery for the best outputs. It is highly preferred over other popular frameworks such as PHPUnit, PHPSpec, or any other unit testing framework. It also provides a test double framework for detecting any potential object interactions and operations using a human-readable domain-specific language (DSL).
Key Features:
- Designed as an alternative for PHPUnit and also integrates easily with PHPUnit.
- Test Doubles stimulate the behavior of real objects.
- Allows double-test flexible generation and configuration.
- A method call expectation mechanism allows calling out a particular method.
Brain Monkey
Brain Monkey is a popular testing framework, and for good reasons. Hosted on GitHub, the framework is open-source and certified under MIT License for complete security and reliability. The tool offers two sets of helpers that includes:
- A framework-agnostic tool that offers you mock (or monkey patch) and PHP function behavior tests.
- Second, a Specific to WordPress to make unit testing of WordPress extensions easier.
Moreover, Brain Monkey also offers tools independent of any particular framework to help you modify PHP functions and check the behaviors of a particular PHP application. Apart from that, it allows several tools to check WordPress code.
Key Features:
- Allows you to mock both deterministic and non-deterministic behavior.
- Unit tests with the help of in-memory mock objects to avoid slow systems including databases, file systems, and external behavior.
- Enhance the capability of PHPUnit’s test isolation.
- Allows mock objects and stubs for a flexible generation.
Guzzle
Guzzle is among the top-rated PHP HTTP clients for easy web services integration and easy sending of HTTP requests. This PHP testing tool allows easy execution of integration tests and a simple interface for query strings, post requests, large uploads, streams, and downloads. Guzzle can also be used to submit an HTTP request to the development web server. You can also use PHPUnit to run a unit test after receiving an answer to make sure the content and headers are set expectedly.
Key Features:
- Allows you to send both synchronous and asynchronous requests using the same interface.
- A middleware system to allow augment and client behavior composing.
- A quick and easy framework PSR-7 interface for requests, responses, and streams.
- A reliable approach as the testing is done on real WordPress websites.
WP-CLI
Although WP-CLI is a common-line interface for WordPress, testing is still among the many of its popular features. Multiple options are there for you such as plugins update, multisite installations, configuration, and a lot more without a web browser. You can run a bash script containing WP-CLI commands for importing test data into the WordPress site.
Key Features:
- A quick and simple framework to allow remote execution of tasks via a command-line interface.
- Easy and quick execution with PHPUnit.
- Allows you to automate integration tests and add to the continuous integration process.
- Enhances reliability as the testing is done directly on a real WordPress website.
XDebug
Xdebug is a reliable and simple extension for PHP that you can use to improve your web development experience. Debugging, enhanced PHP error reporting, tracing, profiling, and code coverage analysis are just a few of the capabilities that the PHP extension XDebug offers to enhance the PHP development experience. While the tool won’t assist you in testing your code, it will assist in locating the bug. You can use the many features of the tool such as debugging, PHP error reporting, tracing, profiling, and code coverage analysis.
Key Features:
- Includes easy integrations for PHP editors such as VS Code, PHPStorm, and Sublime.
- A more powerful PHP testing tool than debugging code using var_dump.
- Allows quick modification of variable values during values for breakpoints.
Conclusion
Web developers need to look at every aspect of their code to protect against any kind of errors and issues during the web development process. As a web developer, you need to eliminate problems before they have an impact on your users. Even a small bug can cost you a lot of time and security. However, it is almost impossible for an application to be 100% bug-free. With the above PHP testing tool, you can test your software at different stages of your web development process. You are free to choose from the above options for bug-free software. Keep reading our blogs for more information.
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