---
title: TDD - Test Driven Drupal
description: How to write automated tests for Drupal, and how to create a new Drupal module using test driven development.
speakerdeck:
    id: 088cb18033064f5cb18d1079795294a1
    ratio: '1.77777777777778'
    url: 'https://speakerdeck.com/opdavies/tdd-test-driven-drupal'
video:
    type: youtube
    id: 3AUhpkxZ7DQ
tags: [drupalcamp, simpletest, phpunit, testing]
has_tweets: true
image:
    url: /images/talks/test-driven-drupal-development.png
    width: 2560
    height: 1440
    type: image/png
use: [talks]
events:
    - event: drupalcamp_london_17
      date: 2017-03-04
      time: '16:15 - 17:00'
    - event: drupalcamp_dublin_17
      date: 2017-10-21
      time: '12:00 - 12:40'
    - event: drupal_bristol
      date: 2017-11-22
    - event: drupal_somerset
      date: 2018-06-14
    - event: drupal_dev_days_18
      date: 2018-07-05
      time: '12:15 - 13:00'
    - event: drupalcamp_london_19
      date: 2019-03-02
      time: '14:00 - 14:45'
---
{% block content %}
Testing is important. Why? It allows developers to add new features and edit and refactor existing code without the worry of adding regressions, reduces the reliance on manual testing to discover bugs, and by taking a test driven approach, your implementation code is leaner as you only write what is needed for your tests to pass.

Drupal 7 includes the SimpleTest module for unit and functional testing, whilst Drupal 8 also includes and supports PHPUnit - the defacto PHP testing framework, used by other PHP projects including Symfony and Laravel - making it easier for people to test their code. And with testing being one of the Drupal core gates with tests needing to be included with every new feature or bug fix, and core’s 100% pass rate policy, testing has become an essential skill when contributing to core, or when working on your own projects.

In this talk, we’ll cover the methodology and terminology involved with automated testing, and then take a test driven approach to creating a new Drupal module.
{% endblock %}

{% block tweets %}
<div class="flex flex-wrap -mx-2">
    <div class="w-full sm:w-1/2 lg:w-1/3 px-2 flex flex-col">
        {% include 'tweet' with {
            content: '<p lang="en" dir="ltr">An informative session on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TDD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TDD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Drupal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Drupal</a> <br>&quot;Test Driven Drupal Development with SimpleTest and PHPUnit - Oliver Davies&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/opdavies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@opdavies</a> Thanks ! :) <a href="https://t.co/xQNaq8e0zU">https://t.co/xQNaq8e0zU</a></p>&mdash; जयदीप सिंह कण्डारी (@JayKandari) <a href="https://twitter.com/JayKandari/status/939598826087706624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2017</a>',
        } %}
    </div>
    <div class="w-full sm:w-1/2 lg:w-1/3 px-2 flex flex-col">
        {% include 'tweet' with {
            content: '<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Really motivational and well delivered talk from <a href="https://twitter.com/opdavies?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@opdavies</a> tonight. Structured brilliantly - I don&#39;t think anybody left not wanting to write tests! &quot;Test Driven Drupal&quot; 💧 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Drupal8?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Drupal8</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/testing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#testing</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/drupal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#drupal</a> <a href="https://t.co/bvQf7WFwdy">pic.twitter.com/bvQf7WFwdy</a></p>&mdash; Drupal Somerset (@drupalsomerset) <a href="https://twitter.com/drupalsomerset/status/1007413440875565056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2018</a>',
        } %}
    </div>
    <div class="w-full sm:w-1/2 lg:w-1/3 px-2 flex flex-col">
        {% include 'tweet' with {
            content: '<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Terrible quality photo but the talk drove me to test and it&#39;s great so far, it&#39;s really helped give me peace of mind and helped me uncover a bug I wouldn&#39;t have otherwise :) so thank you 😁</p>&mdash; Tawny Bartlett (@littlepixiez) <a href="https://twitter.com/littlepixiez/status/1009189555600273409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2018</a>',
            no_parent: true,
        } %}
    </div>
</div>
{% endblock %}