Composer Test Scenarios Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• Multi-environment dependency testing: Enables testing against multiple versions of major dependencies (e.g., Symfony 2/3/4, PHPUnit 4/5/6) without maintaining separate branches or repositories. This aligns with a test-driven roadmap where compatibility is a priority.
• Build vs. Buy: Avoids reinventing dependency matrix testing infrastructure (e.g., custom scripts or CI pipelines) by leveraging this package’s pre-built solution.
• CI/CD optimization: Reduces flaky tests by isolating dependency conflicts early, cutting debugging time. Supports shift-left testing in pipelines (e.g., Travis, GitHub Actions).
• License compliance: Automatically updates dependency licenses in LICENSE files, addressing legal/regulatory requirements (e.g., open-source audits).
• Local development flexibility: Allows developers to switch scenarios locally (e.g., composer scenario symfony4) without global environment changes, improving developer productivity.

When to Consider This Package

• Adopt when:

  • Your project depends on multiple major versions of a library/framework (e.g., Symfony, Laravel, Doctrine) and needs to test all of them.
  • You require lowest/current/highest dependency testing but find manual composer.json tweaks cumbersome.
  • Your CI pipeline lacks a way to dynamically switch dependency versions without duplicating composer.lock files.
  • You need to automate license tracking for dependencies without manual updates.
  • Your team uses Composer and PHP, and you want to avoid vendor-specific solutions (e.g., Laravel Mix for asset pipelines).

• Look elsewhere if:

  • Your dependencies are static (no version variability to test).
  • You use non-PHP ecosystems (e.g., Node.js, Python) where this package isn’t applicable.
  • Your CI/CD system already has built-in multi-version testing (e.g., GitHub Actions matrices with composer install per version).
  • You need runtime dependency swapping (e.g., for feature flags), not just testing—this package is for build-time scenarios.
  • Your project is monolithic with no modular dependency testing needs.

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives: "This package lets us test our PHP application against multiple versions of critical dependencies—like Symfony or PHPUnit—without maintaining separate codebases. It’s like having a ‘test lab’ for dependencies, automatically updating license compliance and reducing CI flakiness. For example, we could catch a Symfony 5 breaking change early, saving weeks of debugging. It’s a low-code, high-impact way to future-proof our stack, with minimal maintenance overhead."

For Engineering: *"Composer Test Scenarios replaces manual composer.json hacking to test dependency versions. With it:

• Travis/GitHub Actions: Define a matrix of scenarios (e.g., Symfony 4/5) and dependency levels (lowest/highest/current) in one .yml file.
• Local dev: Switch between scenarios with composer scenario <name>—no global installs needed.
• Licenses: Auto-updates LICENSE with dependency licenses, so audits are effortless.
• Lockfiles: Generates per-scenario composer.lock files in .scenarios.lock, committed to version control. It’s a drop-in solution for dependency matrix testing—just add it to composer.json and define your scenarios. No reinventing the wheel."