HomeCoursesEnsuring Elixir Application Performance with Testing and ExUnit

Intermediate

15h

Ensuring Elixir Application Performance with Testing and ExUnit
Save for later

Gain insights into unit testing Elixir applications with ExUnit, explore advanced integration and E2E testing, and master OTP, Phoenix frameworks, API testing, and platform-specific refactoring.

Join 2.6 million developers at

Table of Contents

Learner Reviews

Course Overview

Testing is an essential part of the software development life cycle. A good automated testing suite streamlines feedback, allowing rapid creation and tight control over specific application components. This course is a comprehensive introduction to testing Elixir applications with ExUnit. You’ll start with a review of unit testing principles before diving into writing tests with the ExUnit. You’ll build a comprehensive suite of unit tests before moving on to more advanced testing, including integration, en...Show More

Testing is an essential part of the software development life cycle. A good automated testing suite streamlines feedback, allowi...Show More

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Learn about unit and integration testing

Learn about the testing of OTP

Understand the EXUnit

Understand the property-based testing and role of generators in it

Learn about the testing of ecto schemas and ecto queries

Learn about unit and integration testing

Show more

Course Content

91 Lessons29 Quizzes

1.

Getting Started

2 Lessons

Get familiar with Elixir testing tools, techniques, and practical examples for robust applications.

Who Should Take This Course, and Why?

Course Content, and Code

2.

Unit Tests

15 Lessons

Discover the logic behind creating and optimizing unit tests in Elixir using ExUnit.

Introduction to Unit Tests

The Anatomy of a Test

Organizing Our Tests using Describe

Organizing Our Tests using Setup Blocks

Creating Comprehensive Test Coverage

List Comprehensions

Further Usage of List Comprehension for Test Coverage

Quiz on Basics of ExUnit

Testing Pure Functions

Refactoring Toward Pure Functions

Finer Control over Dependency Injection

Quiz on Unit Testing Skills

3.

Integration and End-to-End Tests

19 Lessons

Examine integrating, testing, and simulating external dependencies, optimizing Elixir application performance.

Introduction to Integration Tests

Testing Against Real External Dependencies

Dependency Doubles

Test Doubles: Stubs, Mocks, and Fakes

Stubbing Entire Interfaces

Quiz on Integration Testing I

Improving Performance at Compile Time

The Hidden Benefits of Dependency Doubles

Testing the Actual Interaction with Services

Building an Ad-hoc HTTP Server

Building New Test Servers Using Bypass

Recording Requests with Cassettes

Comparing Cassettes

Final Remarks on Testing External Services

End-to-end Tests

Quiz on Integration Testing II

4.

Testing OTP

8 Lessons

Grasp testing strategies for GenServers, functional cores, OTP processes, periodic actions, and supervision trees.

Isolating a Functional Core

Controlling the Life Cycle of OTP Processes in Tests

Testing Periodic Actions

Black Box model in Testing Periodic Actions

Singleton Resources

Testing Resiliency

Supervision Trees

5.

Testing Ecto Schemas

13 Lessons

Solve problems in testing Ecto schemas, data validation, and database integration in Elixir.

Introduction to Ecto

Testing Schema through Ecto Changesets

Refactoring Tests for Added Safety

Refactoring Tests to Be Self-updating

Extensions to Creating a Self-Updating Test

Creating a SchemaCase for Shared Test Code

Data Validation

Adding Database Interactions

Application Integration with Database

Schema Integration with Database

Testing an Ecto Schema

Testing Schema Integrations with Database

6.

Testing Ecto Queries

6 Lessons

Tackle Ecto query tests, from creating factories to CRUD operations, ensuring data integrity.

Creating a Factory

Testing Create Operation

Testing Read Operation

Testing Update Operation

Testing Delete Operation

7.

Testing Phoenix

12 Lessons

Master the steps to test Phoenix applications, including JSON APIs, HTML, plugs, and channels.

JSON-based APIs

Setup Block for Testing JSON-based APIs

Error Test for JSON-based APIs

Testing the Happy Path

Testing for the Presence of Plugs

Testing Server-rendered HTML Applications

Testing the Happy Path for Create

Testing the Error Case for Create

Testing the UserSocket

Testing a Channel

8.

Property-Based Testing

16 Lessons

Learn how to use property-based testing, stream_data, and effective data generation in Elixir.

Example-based Tests

Randomness and Property-Based Testing

Introducing stream_data Framework

Data Generation

Generation Size

More on Generation Size

Writing Properties

Strategies for Designing Properties

Limits of Property-Based Testing

Stateful Property-Based Testing

Quiz on Property-Based Testing

Certificate of Completion

Showcase your accomplishment by sharing your certificate of completion.

Course Author:

The Pragmatic Programmers

Join 2.6 million learners and start transforming your career today

Trusted by 2.6 million developers working at companies

"These are high-quality courses. Trust me. I own around 10 and the price is worth it for the content quality. EducativeInc came at the right time in my career. I'm understanding topics better than with any book or online video tutorial I've done. Truly made for developers. Thanks"

Anthony Walker

@_webarchitect_

"Just finished my first full #ML course: Machine learning for Software Engineers from Educative, Inc. ... Highly recommend!"

Evan Dunbar

ML Engineer

"You guys are the gold standard of crash-courses... Narrow enough that it doesn't need years of study or a full blown book to get the gist, but broad enough that an afternoon of Googling doesn't cut it."

Carlos Matias La Borde

Software Developer

"I spend my days and nights on Educative. It is indispensable. It is such a unique and reader-friendly site"

Souvik Kundu

Front-end Developer

"Your courses are simply awesome, the depth they go into and the breadth of coverage is so good that I don't have to refer to 10 different websites looking for interview topics and content."

Vinay Krishnaiah

Software Developer

"I've tried probably 5-7 different sites and Educative is easily the best. It perfectly blends explanation with interactivity"

Eric Downs

Musician/Entrepeneur

Hands-on Learning Powered by AI

See how Educative uses AI to make your learning more immersive than ever before.

Instant Code Feedback

Evaluate and debug your code with the click of a button. Get real-time feedback on test cases, including time and space complexity of your solutions.

AI-Powered Mock Interviews

Put your skills to the test in a simulated interview setting. Receive personalized feedback based on your performance. Available in Premium & Premium Plus plans.

Adaptive Learning

At various checkpoints throughout Educative courses, you will be prompted to take a quick assessment. Receive a condensed curriculum tailored to your strengths and skill gaps.

Explain with AI

Select any text within any Educative course, and get an instant explanation — without ever leaving your browser.

AI Code Mentor

AI Code Mentor helps you quickly identify errors in your code, learn from your mistakes, and nudge you in the right direction — just like a 1:1 tutor!

Free Resources

FOR TEAMS

Interested in this course for your business or team?

Unlock this course (and 1,000+ more) for your entire org with DevPath

Learn in-demand tech skills in half the time

Copyright ©2025 Educative, Inc. All rights reserved.

soc2