How can you test your PHP framework for compatibility with different browsers and operating systems?

Softwares like BrowserStack are good, but they tend to cost additional money. Personally, I prefer to use Codeception w/Selenium as my testing framework. What I like about it specifically for multi-browser testing is the ability to create environment files that allows me to easily change which browser I want to run against. Most of the time, I will only run against chrome, but when a full regression is needed, I can run against the others as well. I can combine this with parallel jobs in the CI/CD to test each browser using a headless version.

Don't forget the open source regression tool BackstopJS, 6.5K stars on github. Uses headless approach to emulate all browsers and is very flexible. You can use Playwright or Puppeteer scripts with it as well.

Your testing environment depends on your project, cloud might not always be an option. MAMP or XAMPP are the easiest way to setup a local environment, but depending on the environment's complexity and the amount of project you are working on, they may lack configuration tweaks. If you need to replicate 1-to-1 configurations from the production environment, which I would recommend, my personal top pick is a tailored Docker container for each project and environment. This allows full control over your environment, and deploys the closest possible replica of the production environment locally. A tailored and lightweight Docker image takes longer to set-up, but once done, you will be able to keep up with the production changes effortlessly.

Unit tests are a great way to ensure your code does what it needs to do. Although there are many frameworks you can use, it all falls down on how you actually code for example, creating loosely coupled code is a good way to ensure it does not have dependencies with any other code , allowing you to test it in isolation using various inputs.

In my experience, modern browsers do not present compatibility problems as they once did. So I would not concern about browser testing when talking about php testing. As of modern practice, php should be used as a backend and let other recent frameworks like angular and react do the job on the frontend. They also include test suits

-Cross-browser Testing: Test your PHP application manually on different browsers (like Chrome, Firefox, Safari). Use automated tools like Selenium to create browser tests. -Cross-operating System Testing: Set up virtual machines with different operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux). Try cloud testing services like BrowserStack for a broader range. -Device Testing: Test on physical devices (phones, tablets). Use emulators or simulators for quick device simulations. User Agent Testing: Use browser extensions or tools to simulate different browsers. Responsive Design Testing: Test how your app adapts to different screen sizes using browser tools. Performance Testing: Check your app's speed using tools like PageSpeed Insights.