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GitHub Actions VS PHPUnit

Compare GitHub Actions VS PHPUnit and see what are their differences

GitHub Actions logo GitHub Actions

Automate your workflow from idea to production

PHPUnit logo PHPUnit

Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and Testing Frameworks
  • GitHub Actions Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-25
  • PHPUnit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-26

GitHub Actions features and specs

  • Seamless GitHub Integration
    GitHub Actions are natively integrated with GitHub, making it easy to use within repositories and leverage other GitHub features such as issues, pull requests, and releases.
  • Custom Workflows
    Allows for the creation of complex and custom workflows using YAML syntax, providing flexibility to handle a variety of CI/CD processes.
  • Marketplace Access
    Access to GitHub Marketplace where a wide range of pre-built actions are available, allowing users to quickly set up workflows with minimal configuration.
  • Concurrent Execution
    Supports parallel execution of jobs, which can significantly reduce the time needed to run workflows by performing multiple tasks simultaneously.
  • Self-Hosted Runners
    Provides the ability to use self-hosted runners, offering more control over the environment and resources used for running workflows.
  • Cost-Efficient
    Includes a generous free tier, especially for public repositories, which can be cost-effective for projects with limited resource requirements.

Possible disadvantages of GitHub Actions

  • Complexity for Beginners
    Due to its powerful features and flexibility, setting up and managing GitHub Actions can be complex for users who are not familiar with CI/CD processes or YAML.
  • Limited to GitHub
    As a GitHub-specific product, GitHub Actions is tied to repositories hosted on GitHub, limiting its use for projects that are hosted on other version control platforms.
  • Billing for Additional Usage
    While there is a free tier, usage beyond the free limits incurs additional charges, which can become significant for high-frequency or resource-intensive workflows.
  • Resource Limitations
    GitHub Actions has limitations on available resources (such as CPU and memory) for runners, which can be restrictive for very resource-intensive tasks.

PHPUnit features and specs

  • Comprehensive Testing
    PHPUnit provides a wide range of tools and functionalities for unit testing, allowing developers to thoroughly test their PHP code.
  • Command-Line Interface
    PHPUnit includes a robust CLI that facilitates the running of tests, which can be easily integrated into automated build and deployment processes.
  • Integration with CI/CD
    PHPUnit integrates seamlessly with continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines, enhancing the DevOps workflow.
  • Mock Objects
    The framework provides built-in support for creating mock objects, which can simulate the behavior of complex dependencies, making unit tests more isolated and reliable.
  • Rich Documentation
    PHPUnit has extensive documentation and a strong community, offering a wealth of resources and support for developers.
  • Code Coverage Analysis
    PHPUnit can be used with Xdebug or PHPDBG to generate detailed code coverage reports, helping identify untested parts of the codebase.

Possible disadvantages of PHPUnit

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, PHPUnit can be daunting due to its comprehensive set of features and conventions, requiring a significant time investment to master.
  • Performance Overhead
    Running a large number of tests with PHPUnit can introduce performance overhead, making test execution slower especially in larger projects.
  • Complex Configuration
    Setting up PHPUnit in a complex development environment can sometimes be tricky, requiring careful configuration and maintenance.
  • Limited Functional Testing
    PHPUnit is primarily designed for unit testing and may not be as suitable for functional or end-to-end testing, necessitating additional tools for comprehensive test coverage.

GitHub Actions videos

Introducing GitHub Package Registry

More videos:

  • Tutorial - 5 Ways to DevOps-ify your App - Github Actions Tutorial
  • Review - Automatic Deployment With Github Actions
  • Review - GitHub Actions - Now with built-in CI/CD! Live from GitHub HQ

PHPUnit videos

PHP Unit Testing with PHPUnit | Automated PHP Testing Tutorial [2021]

More videos:

  • Review - DrupalCon Dublin 2016: Automated Testing: PHPUnit all the way
  • Review - Our first PHPunit test in Drupal 8

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitHub Actions and PHPUnit)
DevOps Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Automated Testing
0 0%
100% 100
Continuous Integration
100 100%
0% 0
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitHub Actions and PHPUnit

GitHub Actions Reviews

Top 10 Most Popular Jenkins Alternatives for DevOps in 2024
GitHub Actions is the CI/CD solution that’s built into GitHub, the most popular version control platform. It’s specifically designed to provide an intuitive experience for developers who want to run pipelines quickly without having to configure any separate software. Because it’s a managed SaaS service that’s specifically focused on CI/CD, there are no self-hosting...
Source: spacelift.io

PHPUnit Reviews

We have no reviews of PHPUnit yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitHub Actions should be more popular than PHPUnit. It has been mentiond 306 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitHub Actions mentions (306)

  • Getting started with FrankenPHP, Laravel and Docker
    My base target is used for development use, but my production target is used for production use. I'm using a GitHub Actions workflow to checkout my code, installing dependencies without development dependencies, and building my application. When that's done, I build the Docker image and send it to my container registry. - Source: dev.to / 11 days ago
  • Automating Voicebot Deployments for Amazon Connect
    In this post, I will share WebRTC.ventures' best practices in automating the deployment of AI-powered voice assistants for Amazon Connect, moving beyond manual, click-by-click setups to a robust, scalable Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach. We’ll explore how to manage both static and dynamic resources, leverage tools like Terraform and AWS Serverless Application Model (SAM), and even set up an automated... - Source: dev.to / 18 days ago
  • Deploying a static Website with Pulumi
    The Python Pulumi code is deployed with GitHub Actions. This leverages static credentials for AWS embedded as repository secrets. I have implemented two workflows:. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • As Visual Studio App Center closes, a look back, and what to use now?
    When Microsoft announced the App Center shutdown last year, they recommended an array of alternative tools from elsewhere in their developer toolkit and beyond to replace its capabilities. Users seeking an alternative to App Center's hosted build automation, or App Store deployment, capabilities can look to Azure DevOps Pipelines or GitHub Actions. For cloud-based on-device testing, they recommend external tool... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • The Tech Stack of a Cloud Computing Startup
    We manage infrastructure with Terraform and lean heavily on GitHub Actions for CI/CD. Very simple but it works! Oh and a lot of bash scripts of course. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
View more

PHPUnit mentions (33)

  • 19+ Laravel Best Practices for Developers in 2024
    Laravel also has out-of-the-box testing tools like Pest and PHPUnit and functionalities to enable expressive testing. It also supports executing automated testing sessions that are more precise than manual ones. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Focusing your tests on the domain. A PHPUnit example
    The example is built over a Symfony environment and using the PHPUnit library, but the idea is valid for any language or framework. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Run PHPUnit locally in your WordPress Plugin with DDEV
    Okay, I am digressing; the focus here is PHPUnit for plugins. As with many of my other articles, my goal is to create a reference for myself to use when I need it in the future. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Wordpress tests with Pest and WP Setup
    Today, I finished the first implementation of this environment, adding Pest and PHPUnit in v10.5, which is currently not supported by default with WP Env. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Laravel Fundamentals: A Cheat Sheet for Rapid Development
    Laravel integrates with PHPUnit for unit testing out-of-the-box. Tests are stored in the tests directory of your Laravel application. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitHub Actions and PHPUnit, you can also consider the following products

CircleCI - CircleCI gives web developers powerful Continuous Integration and Deployment with easy setup and maintenance.

JUnit - JUnit is a simple framework to write repeatable tests.

GitHub - Originally founded as a project to simplify sharing code, GitHub has grown into an application used by over a million people to store over two million code repositories, making GitHub the largest code host in the world.

PHPTester.net - PHPTester.net gives developers and learners the ability to write their PHP code and get the output online.

Jenkins - Jenkins is an open-source continuous integration server with 300+ plugins to support all kinds of software development

Cucumber - Cucumber is a BDD tool for specification of application features and user scenarios in plain text.