Writing and Refactoring Testable PHP

Course details

It’s difficult to innovate in a messy, disorganized PHP codebase. Enter test-driven development (TDD)—a more professional development approach that helps prevent regressions, increase developer confidence in a codebase, and keep the codebase clean to accommodate business logic pivots. In this course, learn how PHP developers can leverage TDD in new projects and refactor code in existing projects.

This course is integrated with GitHub Codespaces, an instant cloud developer environment that offers all the functionality of your favorite IDE without the need for any local machine setup. With GitHub Codespaces, you can get hands-on practice from any machine, at any time—all while using a tool that you’ll likely encounter in the workplace. Check out the “Using GitHub Codespaces with this course” video to learn how to get started.

Learning objectives
Define different types of testing and when to apply each type.
Demonstrate how to configure a new PHP project for automated tests.
Explain the three-step TDD process to create and refactor safely.
Identify large chunks of code that should be refactored.
Explore how to identify and remove PHP-specific antipatterns.
Examine ways to write code with high confidence of limited or no regressions.
Describe the risks and benefits of TDD and refactoring in real-world situations.
Explain the benefits of TDD and refactoring to teams/PMs who don’t see the value.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Test-driven development and refactoring in PHP
02 - Concepts and technologies you should know
03 - Using GitHub Codespaces with this course

1. What Are You Doing Here

04 - Automated testing
05 - Define types of testing
06 - What is refactoring
07 - When to refactor

2. TDD a New Project

08 - Configure a project for tests
09 - Write an acceptance test
10 - Write a failing unit test, make the test pass, refactor
11 - Write testable code

3. What to Refactor in Existing (Legacy) Projects

12 - Large chunks of logic
13 - Incorrect OOP logic
14 - Change lots of files for one feature
15 - Unnecessary code
16 - Strong coupling
17 - Using mocks
18 - Files that are modified often
19 - Identifying the best place to start

4. Examples of Test-Driven Refactoring

20 - Add one passing test
21 - Identify a brittle function and add tests
22 - Extract functionality (using TDD)
23 - Simplify conditionals
24 - Simplify function signatures

5. OOP Examples of Test-Driven Refactoring

25 - Identify objects from related functions
26 - Replace arrays with objects
27 - Add value objects (easy to test)
28 - Add null objects
29 - Replace conditionals with interfaced classes

6. Moving Fast by Moving Slower

30 - Make steady progress
31 - Prevent regressions
32 - Cleaner code
33 - Decoupled code
34 - Become a better developer

7. TDD and Refactoring in the Real World

35 - On a spaghetti-code project
36 - With a looming deadline
37 - With a team that doesn't understand TDD and refactoring
38 - With a PM that doesn t understand TDD and refactoring

Conclusion

39 - Next steps