Basic Testing Examples

This section provides practical examples of testing in Phlow, showing different scenarios and their expected outputs.

String Concatenation Test

Here's a simple example testing string concatenation:

string-test.phlow

name: String Test
version: 1.0.0
description: Testing string operations

tests:
  - main:
      name: "John"
    payload: "Hello"
    assert_eq: "Hello John"
  - main:
      name: "Alice"
    payload: "Hi"
    assert_eq: "Hi Alice"
  - main:
      name: "Bob"
    payload: "Hey"
    assert_eq: "Hey Bob"

steps:
  - payload: !phs `${payload} ${main.name}`

Running the Test

phlow --test string-test.phlow

Expected Output

[2025-07-15T00:11:48Z INFO  phlow::loader] Downloading modules...
[2025-07-15T00:11:48Z INFO  phlow::loader] All modules downloaded and extracted successfully
🧪 Running 3 test(s)...

Test 1: ✅ PASSED - Expected and got: Hello John
Test 2: ✅ PASSED - Expected and got: Hi Alice
Test 3: ✅ PASSED - Expected and got: Hey Bob

📊 Test Results:
   Total: 3
   Passed: 3 ✅
   Failed: 0 ❌

🎉 All tests passed!

Basic Math Test

Here's an example testing basic arithmetic operations:

math-test.phlow

name: Basic Math Test
version: 1.0.0
description: Testing basic arithmetic operations

tests:
  - main:
      x: 10
      y: 20
    payload: 5
    assert: !phs payload == 35
  - main:
      x: 0
      y: 0
    payload: 100
    assert: !phs payload == 100
  - main:
      x: -5
      y: 5
    payload: 10
    assert: !phs payload > 0

steps:
  - payload: !phs main.x + main.y + payload

Running the Test

phlow --test math-test.phlow

Expected Output

[2025-07-15T00:07:55Z INFO  phlow::loader] Downloading modules...
[2025-07-15T00:07:55Z INFO  phlow::loader] All modules downloaded and extracted successfully
🧪 Running 3 test(s)...

Test 1: ✅ PASSED - Assertion passed: {{ payload == 35 }}
Test 2: ✅ PASSED - Assertion passed: {{ payload == 100 }}
Test 3: ✅ PASSED - Assertion passed: {{ payload > 0 }}

📊 Test Results:
   Total: 3
   Passed: 3 ✅
   Failed: 0 ❌

🎉 All tests passed!

Test with Failures

Here's an example showing what happens when tests fail:

fail-test.phlow

name: Failing Test Example
version: 1.0.0
description: Example showing test failures

tests:
  - main:
      name: "John"
    payload: "Hello"
    assert_eq: "Hello John"
  - main:
      name: "Alice"
    payload: "Hi"
    assert_eq: "Wrong expectation"
  - main:
      name: "Bob"
    payload: "Hey"
    assert: !phs payload == "Something else"

steps:
  - payload: !phs `${payload} ${main.name}`

Running the Test

phlow --test fail-test.phlow

Expected Output

[2025-07-15T00:11:59Z INFO  phlow::loader] Downloading modules...
[2025-07-15T00:11:59Z INFO  phlow::loader] All modules downloaded and extracted successfully
🧪 Running 3 test(s)...

Test 1: ✅ PASSED - Expected and got: Hello John
Test 2: ❌ FAILED - Expected Wrong expectation, got Hi Alice
Test 3: ❌ FAILED - Assertion failed: {{ payload == "Something else" }}

📊 Test Results:
   Total: 3
   Passed: 1 ✅
   Failed: 2 ❌

❌ Some tests failed!

Different Assertion Types

Using assert (Expression-based)

tests:
  - main:
      value: 42
    payload: 100
    assert: !phs payload > main.value
  - main:
      name: "test"
    payload: "test string"
    assert: !phs payload.includes(main.name)
  - main:
      items: [1, 2, 3]
    payload: 3
    assert: !phs payload == main.items.length

Using assert_eq (Direct comparison)

tests:
  - main:
      multiplier: 2
    payload: 10
    assert_eq: 20
  - main:
      prefix: "Hello"
    payload: "World"
    assert_eq: "Hello World"

steps:
  - payload: !phs main.multiplier * payload
  - payload: !phs `${main.prefix} ${payload}`

Testing Conditional Logic

conditional-test.phlow

name: Conditional Logic Test
version: 1.0.0
description: Testing conditional logic

tests:
  - main:
      age: 25
    payload: null
    assert: !phs payload == "Adult"
  - main:
      age: 16
    payload: null
    assert: !phs payload == "Minor"
  - main:
      age: 18
    payload: null
    assert: !phs payload == "Adult"

steps:
  - assert: !phs main.age >= 18
    then:
      payload: "Adult"
    else:
      payload: "Minor"

This example tests different age values and ensures the conditional logic works correctly for determining adult vs minor status.

Testing with Initial Payload

payload-test.phlow

name: Payload Test
version: 1.0.0
description: Testing with initial payload values

tests:
  - main:
      factor: 2
    payload: 10
    assert: !phs payload == 20
  - main:
      factor: 0
    payload: 100
    assert: !phs payload == 0
  - main:
      factor: -1
    payload: 5
    assert: !phs payload == -5

steps:
  - payload: !phs main.factor * payload

This example shows how to test workflows that start with an initial payload value and transform it through the steps.

Key Points

1. assert_eq is better for exact value comparisons
2. assert is better for complex conditions and expressions
3. Test names should be descriptive of what they're testing
4. Error messages clearly show what was expected vs what was received
5. Exit codes indicate success (0) or failure (non-zero) for CI/CD integration