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PHPUnit VS TestNG

Compare PHPUnit VS TestNG and see what are their differences

PHPUnit logo PHPUnit

Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and Testing Frameworks

TestNG logo TestNG

TestNG is a testing framework.
  • PHPUnit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-26
  • TestNG Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-12

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.

TestNG features and specs

  • Parallel Testing
    TestNG allows the execution of tests in parallel, which can greatly reduce the time required for test execution by making full use of available resources.
  • Annotations
    TestNG uses more powerful and flexible annotations compared to JUnit, which provide greater control over the setup, execution, and teardown of tests.
  • Data-Driven Testing
    It supports data-driven testing through the use of data providers, allowing the execution of tests with multiple sets of data seamlessly.
  • Flexible Test Configuration
    TestNG provides flexible test configuration options, such as setting the order of test methods execution, grouping tests, and allowing dependencies between test methods.
  • Integration with Build Tools
    TestNG easily integrates with popular build tools such as Maven and Gradle, facilitating continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) processes.

Possible disadvantages of TestNG

  • Complexity
    TestNG's extensive feature set can lead to added complexity in test suite configuration, especially for new users who are unfamiliar with the framework.
  • Verbose XML Configuration
    Managing test configurations through XML files can become verbose and hard to maintain, especially for large test suites with numerous configurations.
  • Limited Community Support
    Compared to more established frameworks like JUnit, TestNG has a smaller community, which can limit the availability of tutorials, documentation, and best practices.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    For teams that have traditionally used other testing tools, the transition to TestNG may involve a steeper learning curve due to its different approach and features.

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

TestNG videos

TESTNG FAKE DESIGNER ITEMS FROM VOVA - IS IT A SCAM?!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to PHPUnit and TestNG)
Automated Testing
58 58%
42% 42
Development
100 100%
0% 0
Testing
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

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

PHPUnit Reviews

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TestNG Reviews

Top 10 Best Selenium Alternatives You Should Try
Important and influential features of TestNG over Selenium are flexible test configuration, powerful execution model, annotations, supports data-driven testing, multi-threading, etc. TestNG means Test Next Generation.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, PHPUnit should be more popular than TestNG. It has been mentiond 33 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.

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 / 11 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

TestNG mentions (6)

  • Five Advanced Techniques to Improve Automated Testing by 50%
    However, you must note that over-parallelization can cause resource contention and performance issues, so monitor it. Use tools like pytest-monitor, TestNG, and Appium to find your optimal parallel execution configuration. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Top 10 Java Testing Tools Every Developer Should Know
    Inspired by JUnit, TestNG offers advanced features for complex, large-scale testing scenarios, covering unit, functional, integration, and end-to-end tests. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Test Automation: Guide to Selenium with Java and TestNG
    If you’re interested in learning more about TestNG, visit its official website for additional information. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • The Top 15 API Testing Frameworks: Your Ultimate Guide
    Introduction: TestNG is a versatile testing framework that accommodates various testing needs, including unit, functional, and integration testing. It's particularly useful for Java developers looking for a comprehensive solution. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Why does Rusts testing tools seem so much less polished compared to its other tooling?
    Testing tools on the JVM stopped using reflection about twenty years ago, they all use annotations these days (e.g. https://testng.org, https://junit.org). Rust has annotations too, obviously. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

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

Arquillian - Arquillian is an open-source testing platform that offers no more container lifecycle, deployment hassles, and mocks.

WritePHPOnline.Com - WritePHPOnline.Com is an online site that enables you to write code in PHP and view its output.

Selenium - Selenium automates browsers. That's it! What you do with that power is entirely up to you. Primarily, it is for automating web applications for testing purposes, but is certainly not limited to just that.