Welcome!

This page is the home of my "So you think you know PHPUnit" presentation. I most recently delivered it at the Symfony User Group Cologne on August 28, 2025 in Köln. Previous events include Vienna PHP, SymfonyLive Berlin, Laracon EU, and PHP Developer Day.

So you think you know PHPUnit

PHPUnit has been around for 25 years and is used by almost all PHP developers worldwide. Most people know the basics, but there is still a lot to discover in PHPUnit. Even the most experienced developers may not have heard of some of its features.

In this presentation, I show you how to properly use all the less commonly used features of PHPUnit. You will learn how to get even more out of the tool you use every day.

Over time, this presentation has evolved, with each edition being updated to reflect the latest features and best practices in PHPUnit. So, whether you have seen an earlier version or look at the material for the first time, you will discover something new.

Here are some of the best practices showcased in the presentation:

• Use the names of your tests to concisely and precisely describe the aspect of your software that they cover.

  Automated tests can do more than just verify whether your software works correctly. They can also serve as an executable specification and documentation of your software. The TestDox output should be understandable to your domain experts.

• Use the --generate-configuration CLI option to generate an XML configuration file for PHPUnit for your project that uses best practice defaults.

• Use attributes such as #[CoversClass] to document the target a test case class intends to cover.

  PHPUnit uses this information, for example, to make reported code coverage information more precise and support test selection using the --covers CLI option.

• Use the #[Small], #[Medium], and #[Large] attributes to document the scope of a test case class.

  PHPUnit uses this information, for example, to make reported code coverage information more precise and support test selection using the --group CLI option.

Material

You can find the latest version of the material I use for this presentation here.

You can find a video recording of this presentation here.

About me

My name is Sebastian Bergmann and I am the creator of PHPUnit, the industry-standard testing framework that has greatly improved the professionalism of PHP software development.

As founding partner of and consultant with The PHP Consulting Company (thePHP.cc), I assist teams in adopting PHPUnit, optimizing its use, refining development workflows, and writing more testable code.

Upcoming events

In case you missed my presentation at the Symfony User Group Cologne in Köln, there are plenty more chances coming up to meet me.

The next time I present "So you think you know PHPUnit" will be at DrupalCon on October 15, 2025 in Vienna.

More events where you can meet me are listed here.

My interactive online training courses are designed to provide you with practical knowledge that you can apply immediately. The next ones starting soon are listed here.

Keep up to date with PHPUnit

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