Speaking session
Writing Cleaner, Sturdier Code With Unit Testing in the Developer track.
About your presentation
My presentation will introduce what unit testing is, why developers should write tests, and how they can start. We’ll write our first tests with PHPUnit and learn more about unit testing with the WordPress core test suite.
What do you want people to learn from your presentation?
I hope people learn more about the “why” of unit testing: Why tests are so good at helping you catch bugs and how they can encourage you to write cleaner code.
Practically speaking, the presentation will show how to write unit tests using PHPUnit assertions, what happens when a test runs, and where to look in the WordPress core test suite for some patterns and guidance.
More generally, I hope the presentation suggests that unit testing isn’t as daunting as it might look. Once you get the hang of it, writing tests can be pretty satisfying.
Why did you decide to speak?
Unit tests have saved me more times than I can count by flagging a problem with new code — before I deploy it — that I would have otherwise missed. I wanted to speak at WordCamp Toronto to try to help others enjoy the same thing.
What attracted you to WordPress in the first place?
Even before I wrote any code, WordPress was my choice because it let me publish quickly and simply. When I started building websites, I stuck with WordPress because of the supportive community and because it let me easily create flexible, user-friendly publishing experiences for others.
What is your favourite plugin or theme, and why?
You can’t go wrong with Fieldmanager, Alley Interactive’s plugin for metaboxes, custom fields, and settings pages.
What are you most looking forward to at WordCamp Toronto?
Websites that aren’t accessible are broken, so I’m excited about the attention WordCamp is giving to accessibility this year.