/laravel-testing

Lifecycle Hooks — beforeEach/afterEach (Pest) or setUp/tearDown (PHPUnit)

Impact: MEDIUM (Eliminates repeated setup code and applies traits cleanly across test files)

Pest: Use beforeEach() for per-test setup and afterEach() for teardown. Use uses() at the top of the file — or globally in Pest.php — to apply traits without repeating them.

PHPUnit: Use setUp() for per-test setup and tearDown() for teardown. Apply traits with use inside the class. Share base setup through a common TestCase subclass.

Bad Example

<?php

// Repeated setup in every test — verbose and fragile (bad in both frameworks)
test('user can view posts', function () {
    $user  = User::factory()->create(); // duplicated
    Mail::fake();                        // duplicated

    $this->actingAs($user)->getJson('/api/posts')->assertOk();
});

test('user can create a post', function () {
    $user = User::factory()->create(); // duplicated
    Mail::fake();                       // duplicated

    $this->actingAs($user)->postJson('/api/posts', ['title' => 'Hi'])->assertStatus(201);
});

Good Example — Pest

<?php

use App\Models\User;
use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;

uses(RefreshDatabase::class);

beforeEach(function () {
    $this->user = User::factory()->create();
    Mail::fake();
});

test('user can view posts', function () {
    Post::factory()->for($this->user)->count(3)->create();

    $this->actingAs($this->user)
        ->getJson('/api/posts')
        ->assertOk()
        ->assertJsonCount(3, 'data');
});

test('user can create a post', function () {
    $this->actingAs($this->user)
        ->postJson('/api/posts', ['title' => 'Hello', 'body' => 'World'])
        ->assertStatus(201);
});

test('user can delete their post', function () {
    $post = Post::factory()->for($this->user)->create();

    $this->actingAs($this->user)
        ->deleteJson("/api/posts/{$post->id}")
        ->assertNoContent();

    $this->assertModelMissing($post);
});

Apply traits globally in tests/Pest.php:

<?php

// tests/Pest.php — apply RefreshDatabase to all Feature tests globally
uses(
    Tests\TestCase::class,
    Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase::class,
)->in('Feature');

uses(Tests\TestCase::class)->in('Unit');

beforeEach inside a describe block:

<?php

uses(RefreshDatabase::class);

describe('admin routes', function () {
    beforeEach(function () {
        $this->admin = User::factory()->admin()->create();
    });

    it('can list all users', function () {
        User::factory()->count(5)->create();

        $this->actingAs($this->admin)
            ->getJson('/api/admin/users')
            ->assertOk();
    });

    it('can delete any user', function () {
        $user = User::factory()->create();

        $this->actingAs($this->admin)
            ->deleteJson("/api/admin/users/{$user->id}")
            ->assertNoContent();
    });
});

Good Example — PHPUnit

<?php

namespace Tests\Feature;

use App\Models\User;
use App\Models\Post;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
use Tests\TestCase;

class PostControllerTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    private User $user;

    protected function setUp(): void
    {
        parent::setUp(); // always call parent first

        $this->user = User::factory()->create();
        Mail::fake();
    }

    public function test_user_can_view_posts(): void
    {
        Post::factory()->for($this->user)->count(3)->create();

        $this->actingAs($this->user)
            ->getJson('/api/posts')
            ->assertOk()
            ->assertJsonCount(3, 'data');
    }

    public function test_user_can_create_a_post(): void
    {
        $this->actingAs($this->user)
            ->postJson('/api/posts', ['title' => 'Hello', 'body' => 'World'])
            ->assertStatus(201);
    }

    public function test_user_can_delete_their_post(): void
    {
        $post = Post::factory()->for($this->user)->create();

        $this->actingAs($this->user)
            ->deleteJson("/api/posts/{$post->id}")
            ->assertNoContent();

        $this->assertModelMissing($post);
    }
}

Shared base class for common setup (PHPUnit):

<?php

namespace Tests\Feature;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Tests\TestCase;

// Base class — apply once, inherit everywhere
abstract class AuthenticatedTestCase extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    protected \App\Models\User $user;

    protected function setUp(): void
    {
        parent::setUp();
        $this->user = \App\Models\User::factory()->create();
        $this->actingAs($this->user);
    }
}

// Concrete test class — inherits user + auth
class PostControllerTest extends AuthenticatedTestCase
{
    public function test_user_can_create_a_post(): void
    {
        $this->postJson('/api/posts', ['title' => 'Hello', 'body' => 'World'])
            ->assertStatus(201);
    }
}

Key Differences

Why It Matters

• DRY: Shared setup belongs in beforeEach/setUp, not copy-pasted in every test
• Consistency: All tests in the block/class start from the same known state
• Portability: Logic is identical — only the wrapper syntax differs between frameworks

Reference: Pest PHP — Setup & Teardown · PHPUnit — setUp/tearDown