Codeception is an open-source test automation framework for PHP 5.3+. SensioLabs France, the company behind the Symfony2 framework, is responsible for its development.
Codeception uses the BDD (Behavior-driven development) approach and fits the test-driven development structure (TDD). It provides an easy-to-use and understandable testing syntax, and it is written in PHP, so it operates in any web application, APIs, and CLI scripts. Codeception tests are in plain English.
Codeception offers a stable API for writing acceptance, functional, integration, and unit tests for your application’s behavior. The framework has many built-in features that allow you to write better code, including tools for functional testing, acceptance testing, and unit testing.
The main advantage of Codeception is that it allows you to use multiple testing frameworks at once, such as Codeception, PHPUnit, or Behat, which means that you can choose the best match for your project demands. This framework also allows you to extend your test suite using the provided extension point and plugin system.
Codeception Main Features
- Codeception is a BDD-style testing framework for PHP 5.3+. It’s completely open-source; you can read more about it on GitHub.
- Codeception’s foundations stand over a PHPUnit with a unique twist, and it comes with the support for Mink (a mocking library) and Selenium. It also includes some handy tools like Behat, an extension for writing feature files in Gherkin language and sharing them with others on Github.
- Gherkin lets you write tests in plain English that everyone can understand. You can even have non-technical stakeholders write their own tests to describe how the system should behave when certain events occur (for example, “user signs up” or “user submits form”).
Other Features
It also has additional features, like:
Test automation: Codeception allows you to write tests so that they can be easily automated using tools like PHPUnit or Selenium WebDriver.
Extendable architecture: Codeception provides three layers of extensions (hooks): global, project, and test level layers. You can easily combine all these layers to maximize flexibility from your test suite.
Graphical User Interface (GUI): Codeception GUI allows you to easily create new tests and execute them right in your browser without any additional tools. You can also run your tests directly from the IDE.
Easy to use: it is possible to learn the basics of Codeception in just an hour. If you want to try it out for yourself, check out our documentation or ask us for a demo!
Flexible: if you need to test anything from simple forms to complex REST APIs, Codeception can help.
Extensibility: If something is missing from Codeception core functionality, you can extend it by simply creating a new module or adding a new plugin. Codeception provides a wide range of plugins to add new functionality to your tests, such as mocking API requests, setting up the Selenium browser environment, recording steps, etc.
Codecception’s Testing Menu
Here are some of the tests Codeception allows you to perform:
Functional API Tests: Functional tests check that a particular module works as expected. For example, you can test if a registration form saves its values correctly or if an online store displays all items properly when you add them to your cart. Codeception uses its own DSL for writing functional tests. You can use it in combination with other test frameworks (like PHPUnit or Selenium) or by itself.
Acceptance Tests: Acceptance tests verify that your application meets the specifications defined by business stakeholders during the requirements analysis phase. For example, they can check that a registration form displays proper error messages when users enter invalid data or that an online store displays an error message when customers check-in with invalid credit card details.
Unit tests – Testing minor units of your application without access to the database or other external resources. It tests small code units independently or with other parts of an application or external factors like network problems or others.
Test selection: Codeception allows you to create multiple suites and test groups for sorting in different ways (for example, by environment or by tags).
Regression testing: This allows you to compare two versions of your application and check if they are equal in terms of functionality.
System tests: These test your application as a whole rather than individual components. They simulate user actions and check whether they have any side effects on other parts of the system (e.g., database).
Why use Codeception
Aside from everything we’ve said already, why should you use Codeception?
Codeception helps you create automated tests in any programming language supported by the browser. You can use different languages simultaneously. The only thing required to run Codeception is your browser. Testing the easy way!
It’s easy to use. The framework design has simplicity in mind, so it’s easy to get started with it even if you’re new to automated testing. You can write tests in any programming language supported by your browser (PHP/JavaScript/Python/Ruby), so there’s no need for special IDE plugins.
It supports multiple languages out of the box. Codeception doesn’t force you into using a particular programming language: if you want to write some tests in JavaScript instead of PHP, you can do so. This flexibility makes it more appealing for larger teams working on different application parts at once.
Codeception is actively maintained, used by thousands of developers worldwide, has a strong community, and has been integrated with many popular frameworks and CMSs. It has a powerful extension system that allows you to integrate your favorite tools with Codeception easily.
The documentation is very detailed and easy to follow. The documentation also provides information about how to install the various plugins and how to write unit and integration tests in Codeception.
Codeception has a wide range of supported modules that allow you to use almost all popular frameworks and libraries.
Wrapping Up
Codeception is an excellent option to improve your SaaS services overall. Automation is critical today because everyone is doing it, and if you don’t, you’ll be left without the ability to compete. And that is not all; AI will be another addition to the coding world very soon, and it will be mandatory in a not too long time. Make sure you follow us on our social networks so you don’t miss that article when we have it.
As always, stay safe and stay safe.
