Tag: php
Test Doubles
PHP 8.0+
2
Substitute objects used in tests to replace real dependencies — mocks, stubs, spies, fakes, and dummies each serve a different purpose.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Type Inference
PHP 7.0+
4
The compiler's ability to automatically deduce the type of an expression without an explicit annotation, based on context and assigned values.
3mo ago
Compiler intermediate
Test-Driven Development (TDD)
PHP 7.0+
2
A development practice where tests are written before the code they test — Red (write a failing test), Green (write the minimum code to pass), Refactor (improve without breaking tests).
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Thread Safety
PHP 7.0+
Thread-safe code produces correct results regardless of how multiple threads interleave — achieved through immutability, atomic operations, or synchronisation primitives.
3mo ago
Concurrency intermediate
Traces & Spans
PHP 7.0+
The building blocks of distributed tracing — a trace represents a complete request journey across services, composed of spans that each record one operation with its start time, duration, and parent–child relationship.
3mo ago
Observability intermediate
Traits — Horizontal Reuse (PHP 5.4)
PHP 5.4+
PHP 5.4 traits enable horizontal code reuse — mixins for PHP classes that can't use multiple inheritance. Use sparingly; prefer composition over trait overuse.
3mo ago
PHP intermediate
Typeahead & Autocomplete
PHP 7.0+
1
Search suggestions shown as the user types — requiring prefix matching, typo tolerance, and sub-100ms response times to feel native, implemented via dedicated index structures or edge completion APIs.
3mo ago
Search intermediate
Typed Properties (PHP 7.4)
PHP 7.4+
PHP 7.4 typed properties add type declarations to class properties — public string $name — preventing type mismatches and enabling full static analysis of object state.
3mo ago
PHP intermediate
Type Coercion in Authentication Checks
PHP 4.0+
PHP's loose comparison (==) coerces types — '0e123' == '0e456' (both 0 in scientific notation), and 0 == 'admin' — always use === for authentication comparisons.
3mo ago
Security advanced
TypeError — When Type Declarations Throw
PHP 7.0+
TypeError is thrown when a value passed to a typed parameter or return type doesn't match — strict_types=1 makes this happen at call sites too.
3mo ago
PHP intermediate
Test Coverage Types
PHP 7.0+
Line coverage (lines executed), branch coverage (if/else paths), mutation testing (do tests detect actual bugs) — each measures a different aspect of test quality.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Test Environment Parity
Dev, staging, and production must use identical PHP versions, MySQL versions, and OS configurations — divergence causes bugs that only appear in production.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Test Naming Conventions
Well-named tests read as specifications — they document what the system does, make failure messages self-explanatory, and allow filtering tests by feature or scenario.
3mo ago
Testing beginner
Translation Management
PHP 5.0+
1
Organising, extracting, and synchronising translatable strings — gettext .po/.mo files, ICU MessageFormat, and tools like Weblate or Crowdin for translator workflows.
3mo ago
i18n intermediate
Type Widening & Covariance/Contravariance
PHP 7.4+
2
PHP's rules for overriding method types in subclasses — return types are covariant (can narrow), parameter types are contravariant (can widen), enforced since PHP 7.4.
3mo ago
PHP advanced
TypeScript vs PHP Type System
4.0
TypeScript uses structural typing (shape compatibility); PHP uses nominal typing (explicit implements). TypeScript infers types; PHP requires annotations. Both support generics (PHP via PHPDoc).
3mo ago
TypeScript intermediate
Test Data Builders
PHP 7.0+
A pattern for constructing test objects with sensible defaults that can be selectively overridden — reducing test setup noise and making the relevant data explicit.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Test Fixtures & setUp() Best Practices
Managing test state with setUp()/tearDown(), object mothers, and factories — keeping tests isolated, readable, and fast.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Test Isolation Strategies
PHP 7.0+
Ensuring each test starts from a known clean state — using database transactions, in-memory fakes, or container resets so tests don't bleed state into each other.
3mo ago
Testing intermediate
Timezone Handling
PHP 5.0+
1
Storing dates as UTC and converting to local timezones only for display — prevents DST bugs, ambiguous times, and incorrect date arithmetic.
3mo ago
i18n intermediate