Introduction to Feature Testing with Pest

Feature testing ensures that your application behaves as expected from the user's perspective by testing how different components work together. In Laravel, feature tests interact with your application’s routes, middleware, controllers, and more, making them an essential part of verifying your application’s functionality.

In this lesson, we’ll use Pest to test the healthcheck endpoint we created earlier. Pest streamlines the testing process, allowing you to write clean, concise, and intuitive tests without sacrificing power or flexibility.

What Will We Test?

We’ll focus on the /api/healthcheck endpoint, which returns a simple JSON response indicating the status of the service. Using Pest, we’ll verify that:

1. The endpoint returns an HTTP 200 status code, indicating success.
2. The JSON response contains the expected status: ok payload.

Why Use Pest for Feature Testing?

• Readable Syntax: Pest’s concise syntax makes your tests easier to read and maintain.
• Focus on Behavior: Pest emphasizes behavior-driven development, aligning well with the goals of feature testing.
• Laravel Integration: Pest works seamlessly with Laravel’s testing utilities, like getJson, for interacting with API routes.

Faster Iteration: Its simple structure lets you quickly write and execute tests, ensuring your application meets user expectations.

Branch: https://github.com/GaryClarke/laravel-microservice/tree/4-healthcheck-endpoints