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Storybook VS PHPUnit

Compare Storybook VS PHPUnit and see what are their differences

Storybook logo Storybook

Storybook is an open source tool for developing UI components in isolation for React, Vue, and Angular. It makes building stunning UIs organized and efficient.

PHPUnit logo PHPUnit

Application and Data, Build, Test, Deploy, and Testing Frameworks
  • Storybook Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21
  • PHPUnit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-26

Storybook features and specs

  • Component Isolation
    Storybook allows developers to isolate components from the main application, making it easier to develop and debug individual components without dealing with the app's entire context.
  • Live Component Demos
    Storybook provides real-time, interactive demos of components. This is especially useful for showcasing components to non-technical stakeholders or for internal documentation.
  • Improved Documentation
    Storybook's interface allows for comprehensive documentation of components, including their states and variations, which improves team communication and onboarding processes.
  • Supports Multiple Frameworks
    Storybook is framework-agnostic and supports popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries, including React, Vue, Angular, and more.
  • Addons and Plugins
    There is a large ecosystem of addons and plugins that extend Storybook's functionality, such as accessibility checking, design tool integration, and performance testing.
  • Hot Module Replacement (HMR)
    Storybook supports HMR, providing instant feedback on code changes without requiring a full page reload, thereby speeding up the development process.

Possible disadvantages of Storybook

  • Initial Setup and Configuration
    Setting up Storybook for the first time can be complex and time-consuming, especially for large projects with unique configurations.
  • Overhead for Small Projects
    For very small projects or simple components, using Storybook might add unnecessary overhead, both in terms of setup and ongoing maintenance.
  • Learning Curve
    There is a learning curve associated with Storybook, particularly for developers who are not familiar with component-driven development or have limited experience with UI libraries.
  • Performance Issues
    For extremely large projects, Storybook can sometimes experience performance issues, primarily due to the volume of components and stories being processed.
  • Dependency Management
    Storybook introduces additional dependencies to a project, which can complicate dependency management and version conflicts.
  • Context and Global State
    Managing global states, contexts, or inter-component interactions can be challenging in Storybook, as it isolates components from the larger application context.

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.

Analysis of PHPUnit

Overall verdict

  • PHPUnit is a good choice for testing PHP applications. Its strong reputation in the PHP community and its extensive capabilities make it a valuable tool for ensuring code quality and reliability.

Why this product is good

  • PHPUnit is widely regarded as a robust and reliable testing framework for PHP. It is well-documented, actively maintained, and integrates seamlessly with various development tools and environments. PHPUnit's comprehensive feature set, including support for test-driven development (TDD) and behavior-driven development (BDD), makes it a popular choice among PHP developers.

Recommended for

  • Developers looking to implement test-driven development practices in their PHP projects.
  • Projects requiring a mature, stable, and well-supported testing framework.
  • Teams that benefit from built-in support for continuous integration workflows.
  • Developers who need to perform unit testing, integration testing, or acceptance testing for their PHP code.

Storybook videos

Disney's Cinderella Deluxe Storybook Review

More videos:

  • Review - Disney's Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs Deluxe Storybook Review
  • Review - Disney Frozen The Story of Anna and Elsa Deluxe Storybook Review

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 Storybook and PHPUnit)
Developer Tools
86 86%
14% 14
Development
0 0%
100% 100
React
100 100%
0% 0
Automated Testing
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 Storybook and PHPUnit

Storybook Reviews

20 Best JavaScript Frameworks For 2023
Storybook is free, open-source, and one of the best JavaScript frameworks for creating separate UI elements and testing. For UI development, UI testing, and documentation, it is used by thousands of teams. It is simpler to find and repair issues with the components when developers use Storybook to construct a catalog and interact with them in a live environment.

PHPUnit Reviews

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

Based on our record, Storybook should be more popular than PHPUnit. It has been mentiond 225 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.

Storybook mentions (225)

  • Monorepo Tutorial With Lerna, Storybook & Next.js
    In this tutorial, you'll learn how to build a monorepo using Lerna. We’ll be building a Next.js application which will import components from a separate package. We’ll also be using Storybook to showcase those components. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • UmiJS: the Shaolin of web frameworks
    Dumi. A static site generator specifically designed for component library development. Look at it as something between Storybook and Docusaurus inside the Umi world (but much better integrated between each other, presumably). - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Screenshot testing: Gotta Catch 'Em All
    Import type { Meta, StoryObj } from '@storybook/react'; Import { fn } from '@storybook/test'; Import { Button } from './Button'; // More on how to set up stories at: https://storybook.js.org/docs/writing-stories#default-export Const meta = { title: 'Example/Button', component: Button, parameters: { // Optional parameter to center the component in the Canvas. More info:... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Storybook Starter Guide: Learn Design System Principles
    Storybook is an open-source tool for building and testing UI components in isolation. Think of it as a dedicated workshop where you can create, preview, and document components in every possible state without spinning up the full application. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Documenting Web Components With Storybook
    Documentation is a crucial part of any design system. There's the aspect of writing, maintaining, and ensuring that it doesn't drift from the codebase. It's a lot of work, and it's easy to let it slip. I've spent a lot of time over the last year and a half thinking about the right way to document components, and it took some time until I found a sustainable solution I was happy with. In this article, I want to... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
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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 / 3 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 / 8 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 / 12 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
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What are some alternatives?

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

styled-components - styled-components is a visual primitive for the component age that also helps the user to use the ES6 and CSS to style apps.

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

Tailwind CSS - A utility-first CSS framework for rapidly building custom user interfaces.

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

React - A JavaScript library for building user interfaces

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