<h2>The Testing Pyramid</h2><p>Not all tests are created equal. A healthy test suite follows the <strong>testing pyramid</strong>:</p><ol><li><strong>Unit tests</strong> (base) — fast, isolated, many of them</li><li><strong>Integration tests</strong> (middle) — test component interactions</li><li><strong>End-to-end tests</strong> (top) — few, slow, high confidence</li></ol><h3>What Makes a Good Test?</h3><p>A good test is:</p><ul><li><strong>Fast</strong> — if tests are slow, developers won't run them</li><li><strong>Deterministic</strong> — same input, same result, every time</li><li><strong>Independent</strong> — no test should depend on another</li><li><strong>Readable</strong> — the test name should describe the expected behavior</li></ul><h3>Test Naming</h3><p>Use descriptive names that read like specifications:</p><pre><code>public function test_guest_cannot_access_dashboard(): void\npublic function test_admin_can_delete_users(): void\npublic function test_order_total_includes_shipping(): void</code></pre><blockquote><p>Write the test name <em>before</em> the implementation. If you can't name it clearly, you don't understand the requirement yet.</p></blockquote><hr><h3>When to Skip Tests</h3><p>Tests aren't free. <em>Don't</em> test:</p><ul><li>Framework internals (trust Laravel's own tests)</li><li>Simple getters and setters with no logic</li><li>Third-party packages you don't control</li></ul>