Create a Laravel Unit Test in 45 Seconds
45sQuick, actionable tutorial hook showing how to create a unit test from scratch.
▶ Play ClipAI Summary
This tutorial demonstrates how to create and run a unit test in Laravel using PHPUnit. It covers checking for PHPUnit installation, creating a test file with Artisan, writing a test for a Customer model's full name method, and running the test.
Chapters
[00:00]
Introduction
Welcome to a Laravel unit test tutorial using PHPUnit.
[00:10]
Check PHPUnit Installation
Open composer.json to verify phpunit/phpunit is listed.
[00:22]
Model Method to Test
Customer model has a fullName() method that concatenates first and last name.
[00:44]
Create Test File
Run 'php artisan make:test CustomerTest --unit' to generate the test file.
[01:35]
Test File Structure
CustomerTest extends TestCase from PHPUnit; write test method with docblock description.
[02:16]
Write the Test
Instantiate Customer model directly (no factory), set first and last name, then use assertEquals to check fullName() returns 'John Smith'.
[03:24]
Run Tests
Use 'php artisan test' to run all tests or 'php artisan test --filter=CustomerTest' for a specific test.
Unit testing in Laravel is straightforward with PHPUnit. By creating a test file, writing assertions, and running tests via Artisan, you can ensure your model methods work correctly.
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Tutorial Checklist
5
02:16
Write test: instantiate Customer, set first/last name, call assertEquals('John Smith', $customer->fullName()).
Study Flashcards (5)
What command creates a unit test file in Laravel?
easy
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What command creates a unit test file in Laravel?
easy
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php artisan make:test CustomerTest --unit
00:44
What does the --unit flag do in the make:test command?
medium
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What does the --unit flag do in the make:test command?
medium
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It specifies that the test is a unit test and places the file under the unit test directory.
01:21
How do you instantiate a model in a unit test without using factories?
medium
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How do you instantiate a model in a unit test without using factories?
medium
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Use the new operator directly, e.g., $customer = new Customer();
02:37
What method is used to assert that two values are equal in PHPUnit?
easy
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What method is used to assert that two values are equal in PHPUnit?
easy
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assertEquals
02:45
How do you run only a specific test file using Artisan?
medium
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How do you run only a specific test file using Artisan?
medium
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php artisan test --filter=CustomerTest
03:54
💡 Key Takeaways
🔧
Creating a Unit Test with Artisan
Shows the exact command to generate a unit test file, a fundamental step in Laravel testing.
00:44
⚖️
Direct Instantiation in Unit Tests
Clarifies that unit tests should not use factories but directly instantiate models.
02:37
🔧
Running Tests with Filter
Demonstrates how to run a single test file efficiently using the --filter option.
03:24Full Transcript
[00:00] welcome to another develop and design
[00:02] tutorial in this video we will explore
[00:05] how to create a unit test in laravel
[00:07] using PHP unit first we need to check
[00:10] that we have the PHP unit package
[00:12] installed by opening up the Project's
[00:14] composer. Json file the package name we
[00:17] should see is phpunit phpunit now we
[00:20] know this is installed I am going to
[00:22] open up the customer model class to
[00:24] write a function for our unit test this
[00:27] is just a simple function called full
[00:29] name which returns a string
[00:30] concatenating the customer's first name
[00:32] and last name to create our unit test we
[00:36] need to open our terminal or command
[00:38] prompt then navigate to our laravel
[00:41] project directory Now to create the
[00:44] customer unit test file itself we need
[00:47] to type the command PHP artisan make
[00:50] colon test customer test-- unit then hit
[00:55] enter now the command has run
[00:57] successfully we should now see the file
[01:00] path to our unit test displayed in the
[01:02] terminal just a quick breakdown of the
[01:04] command itself PHP artisan make colon
[01:07] test creates the test file customer test
[01:10] in Pascal case names the test file for
[01:13] the customer class's unit tests only the
[01:15] customer class's unit tests will go in
[01:17] this file-- unit specifies that the
[01:21] tests are unit tests and will place the
[01:23] file under the unit test directory now
[01:26] if we navigate to the test directory in
[01:28] our code editor then into the unit
[01:30] directory we should see our customer
[01:32] test file let's click on it to open it
[01:35] we can tell the test is a PHP unit test
[01:38] as the customer test class extends the
[01:40] test case class from the PHP unit
[01:42] library now to write the test we'll
[01:44] first add a description in the doc block
[01:46] above the test function explaining what
[01:48] it
[01:49] covers let's put Test the full name
[01:52] method of the customer model Returns the
[01:54] correct
[01:56] format it's good to put clear
[01:58] descriptions as it helps other
[02:00] developers understand the tests now
[02:02] let's give the test function a name
[02:04] let's call it Test full name Returns the
[02:06] correct
[02:08] format now let's delete everything that
[02:11] was pre-generated inside the example
[02:13] function then begin writing the test by
[02:16] creating a variable called customer
[02:19] which will be an instance of the
[02:21] customer model
[02:23] class we need to give the customer a
[02:25] first name and last name to test the
[02:28] function I'll assign the first name John
[02:31] and the last name Smith to the customer
[02:34] for unit tests we do not use model
[02:37] Factory calls instead we instantiate the
[02:40] class using the new
[02:42] operator now let's add a call to a
[02:45] method called assert
[02:47] equals this method takes two variables
[02:50] and asserts whether they are equal or
[02:52] not if they are equal then the unit test
[02:55] has passed if they are not equal then it
[02:58] has failed
[03:01] for this method's first parameter we
[03:03] want to put the string value we expect
[03:05] the customer full name method to return
[03:08] which is John
[03:10] Smith the second parameter we want to
[03:12] pass is the full name method call from
[03:14] our customer variable as this should
[03:17] concatenate the customer's first name
[03:19] and last name to equal John
[03:21] Smith now to run the test we want to
[03:24] open up the terminal and ensure we are
[03:26] in our laravel project
[03:28] directory then type the command PHP
[03:31] Artisan test and hit enter Then in the
[03:34] terminal we can see that our unit test
[03:36] has passed successfully the command we
[03:39] just ran on its own runs all the
[03:41] tests if we have lots of tests it could
[03:44] take a while to run them all if we just
[03:46] want to see the outcome of one test file
[03:48] then we can run the command with a
[03:50] filter let's try the filter command in
[03:52] the
[03:54] terminal type PHP Artisan test-- filter
[03:58] equals customer test
[04:00] where customer test is the name of the
[04:02] test then hit enter to run it and there
[04:07] we have the customer test which has run
[04:09] successfully if you have any questions
[04:11] about this then please leave a comment
[04:13] below and I will get back to you as soon
[04:15] as I
[04:16] can if you found this video useful then
[04:19] please give it a like and hit the
[04:20] Subscribe button