Test helpers best practices

You should organize helpers according to their specific roles and intended use cases. These roles represent the following test stages:

• Arrange: For example, Helper::haveCustomer()
• Assert: For example, Helper::assertCustomer($customerTransfer)

During the “Act” stage, we often only invoke a specific method that requires testing. In certain situations, it might make sense to create a helper method for executing bigger processes, such as Helper::checkout(). This method could include actions like adding a product to the cart, initiating the checkout procedure, completing address forms, selecting payment options, and more. This helper method could then also be reused by other tests.

Root helper

Each module should have a helper named after the module. For example, in the spryker/customer module, there is CustomerHelper. This particular helper facilitates interactions with customer-related functionalities, such as creating CustomerTransfer or registering a customer.

You can also use these helpers to configure the system in a manner where, for example, an in-memory message broker is used instead a remote or a locally running one. This switch simplifies testing procedures and enhances overall performance.

Assert helper

To prevent overburdening the root helper, specific assertions should reside in separate helpers. In the context of the Customer module example, you could establish a CustomerAssertHelper. This dedicated helper should exclusively encompass assertion methods that can be used in any other module as well.