Admit it, you know you should be testing your PHP applications. However, with all of the different PHP test environments and the daunting documentation, sometimes it's difficult to know where to start. This tutorial will help. We begin by offering a very simple PHP application with identifying elements that lend themselves to testing. We'll write some real tests using several of the existing PHP testing tools, including PHPUnit, Simple-Test, phpt, and Apache-Test. In all fairness, we're biased--we think Apache-Test is simply the best testing environment for PHP applications, offering a rich set of test-writing tools while also providing a pristine, self-contained, and automated testing environment.

The bulk of the tutorial will be spent learning how to write tests using Apache-Test and exactly what it means to have such a powerful tool at your fingertips. Along the way, you'll be learning standard, insightful testing idioms that are universally helpful, regardless of the framework or even the language being used. You will leave this tutorial with some real-world testing skills that you will find immediately applicable to your day-to-day PHP work. And, you'll have some fun, too.