I write a lot about testing in the Mastering Laravel newsletter. Ever wonder why it's a topic I care so much about?

In today's episode, we discuss that question and come up with a few different reasons.

• (00:00) - Why do we like testing so much?
• (01:20) - Looking back at how we learned
• (02:30) - Making it easier to join a project
• (05:45) - Tests make you more productive
• (07:45) - Shifting your thinking
• (10:10) - Silly bit

What does it really mean when you say you know a particular technology? On today's episode, we discuss this using TypeScript as a specific example.

• (00:00) - What does it mean to "know" something?
• (03:15) - Thinking about TypeScript vs strict types in PHP
• (05:30) - Are you fluent?
• (06:50) - Silly bit

Programmers are not shy about telling other programmers when they're wrong. But what can we learn in a situation like his? How can we be wrong with style? In this episode, Aaron and Joel talk about times they've been wrong throughout their career and what they've learned.

• (00:00) - Aaron admits he was wrong
• (02:00) - What can I learn from this?
• (05:30) - Being wrong in public with style
• (07:00) - Being wrong throughout your career
• (08:45) - Two people can both be right for their context
• (10:10) - Silly bit

We can't know everything, so throughout each day we inevitably have questions. On today's episode, we discuss different approaches we have used when we need a little help.

• (00:00) - Where do you go when you need help?
• (01:30) - Option 1 - search engines
• (03:30) - Getting the most out of search results
• (05:00) - Option 2 - talk to AI
• (07:00) - Using AI in the right context
• (09:10) - Option 3 - talk to a person
• (11:30) - What if you work alone?
• (12:55) - Silly bit

The dreaded bug report: this app is slow. Ok, but what is slow? I have so many questions!

In today's episode, we discuss our approach to getting more information out of that initial bug report, and a methodical approach to locate and quantify the slowness.

If you'd like help setting up tools like Xdebug profiling, send us a message.

Writing tests that communicate with a third party can be a little tricky, but we've found an approach that balances speed and confidence.

In today's episode, we share that approach and talk through a strategy of how frequently to run tests that talk to the outside world.

• (00:00) - Why would your tests ever talk to an external service?
• (02:30) - What does it mean to have a separate test suite?
• (06:00) - Keeping them separate allows different triggers for running
• (07:00) - When should you run external tests?
• (08:30) - You can't always know when you'll break an external integration
• (11:00) - Check on a schedule?
• (13:00) - Silly bit

I don't have time to write an API spec. We're not a giant team. We don't have external users of our API.

I've said all these things in the past, but in today's episode, we discuss why you should still consider writing a specification for your Laravel API.

• (00:00) - Should you write a spec for your API?
• (01:37) - Thinking through the requirements
• (04:07) - What's in a spec?
• (06:20) - Balancing detail with moving forward
• (08:15) - Who is consuming the spec?
• (09:30) - The spec keeps you honest

Maybe you've tried to add static analysis to your Laravel app and got scared away by all the errors.

In this episode we discuss how we like to introduce PHPStan to large, long-lived projects in a way that doesn't introduce a lot of risk or change.

Would you like help introducing Larastan to your project? That's one of many things we can help you with!

This episode is sponsored by Mailtrap, an Email Delivery Platform that developers love. Try for Free at MAILTRAP.IO