PHP Framework for TDD

Question

I am starting work on a personal project which should (hopefully) develop into a startup, the project will need to scale well and I would prefer to invest the time now in TDD.

I am a big Lithium fan, and I am aware that Lithium have their own built in test suite, but I can't find any solid documentation on it and I have never done any real TDD before.

Is there a better way for me to go? Or should I just stick in with Lithium and grind the learning process?

EDIT: Just to clarify. I am talking about PHP Frameworks, not testing frameworks.

Answer 1

If you think, that your project might actually grow into something large, you should write it without the use of framework. The problem with frameworks in general is that they are made with "everything and a kitchen sink" methodology.

You would be much better off, if you build it all from scratch (maybe borrowing some parts you like from Lithium) and use PHPUnit as your testing suite/framework.

Also, i would strongly recommend watching this lecture (and maybe some others from same series), for some general pointers.

Answer 2

Well, if you do plan on developing it in Lithium, then I would definitely stick with the integrated testing framework that's built into lithium.

Find it here:
http://li3.me/docs/manual/quality-code/testing.wiki

If you want to figure out how to integrate tdd into your normal development, I would recommend you pick up one of the .net mvc books by Steve Sanderson (since you seem to do a bit of .net already).

It should only take a few days of working though that book for you to get a solid understanding of how to integrate tdd into your development routine, since that book heavily emphasizes unit testing in development.

Good luck with your start up.

Answer 3

Have a look into Zend framework. It's one of the biggest and most comprehensive frameworks out there. Also it embraces MVC be default.

It also has a built in support for PHPUnit using Zend_Test.