Testing LiveView

Learn how to test LiveView effectively so you can deploy your production code with peace of mind.

Completely updated for Phoenix 1.7 and LiveView 0.19

LiveView is an amazing tool for building interactive applications. It has changed my approach to building rich UIs completely.

But testing LiveView apps requires us to learn how to use a new set of tools. And as with all new tools, we need to learn how to wield them well.

LiveView tests use a proxy process to act as the browser. That has benefits like running tests extremely fast without running JavaScript for our tests. 🥳

But it also makes it easy to write specious tests — tests that seem correct but actually fail to test large portions of our LiveView code. Those tests mislead us into thinking our app is covered, but production is completely broken! 😱

That's why I not only teach the mechanics of writing LiveView tests (the how) but also how not to write LiveView tests. What's more, I teach the logic behind why we write tests in specific ways so you're ready to apply the same logic in your own application.

A course that makes an impact on your professional life...

Each lesson is crafted from my experience testing LiveView applications in the wild and refined by my ten years of experience practicing test-driven development.

Once I teach you how to think about writing LiveView tests, you'll be able to apply the same logic to other testing challenges you face in the real world.

You'll learn to write fast, robust, and easy-to-maintain LiveView tests — the kind of tests that give you confidence when deploying to production.

... and one you'll actually finish

As a software developer, I know how difficult it is to keep up with all the latest tools with limited time.

But so many programming courses don't give you a good return on your time investment. You sit through hundreds of hours of materials that you soon forget and never apply at work. Or worse, the course is so long you never even finish it! 🤦

That's why I've taken a lot of time to distill each lesson into its essence. There are no fillers or fluff.

The Course Outline

We'll cover everything you need to know. From fundamentals to mastery.

  • Testing Rendering

    Learn the basics of setting up a LiveView test, rendering the LiveView, and making an assertion.

  • Scoping Assertions

    Let's get more precise about what we expect from LiveView's UI.

  • Testing Interactions

    Test interactivity from the perspective of the user. We'll learn to target elements, click them, and expect responses users can see.

  • Debugging LiveView Tests

    Tests can sometimes fail in mysterious ways. Learn how to inspect our LiveView tests so we can get unstuck.

  • Testing Forms

    Learn how to test (and how not to test) the bread and butter of the web: forms.

  • Testing Form Changes

    LiveView's forms are interactive. Learn how to test dynamic form changes.

  • Testing Function Components

    Phoenix is all in on components. Learn what to test (and what not to test) when it comes to function components.

A directory page from one of the Testing LiveView lessons Terminal showing test error
  • Testing LiveComponents

    Learn how to test LiveComponents, including which parts to test directly and which to test through the parent LiveView.

  • Testing Live Navigation

    LiveView has different ways of navigating across pages. Let's learn how to test that navigation (whether it's from LiveView to LiveView or LiveView to non-LiveView).

  • Testing Live Patch

    Learn to test live patches. I'll share my unique approach (not even included in LiveView's docs) on how to test that same code with less coupling!

  • Testing JS Hooks

    Learn to test JS hooks, and more importantly, learn the limitations of our tests when it comes to JavaScript!

  • Testing Upload Previews

    LiveView comes with wonderful uploads previews out of the box! Learn how to use the helpers needed to ensure the previews are working correctly!

  • Testing Uploads (Direct to Server)

    Learn to test LiveView uploads when we're uploading them directly to our servers.

  • Testing Uploads (Direct to Cloud)

    And learn to test uploads when we're uploading them to the cloud!

Todos lesson from Testing LiveView course Terminal showing test error

Watch it once. Reference it forever.

Of course, we don't always retain what we learn perfectly.

In those cases, it's helpful to come back to the source to reinforce what we've learned. But that can be tough with videos. Will you have to watch everything again?

You can certainly do that if you want. But it's faster to skim and search text. That's why each lesson includes detailed summaries so you can always find what you need quickly.

It's a golden reference for testing LiveView!

Pricing

Individual License

$99
  • All videos

  • Access to the source code with detailed commits

  • Comment on any lesson along with other Elixirists

  • Detailed notes for all videos to quickly reference anything without having to scrub through the video

  • Suggest topics for future videos

Team Log In

$499
  • Get 5 simultaneous sessions for your team with a single shared login (such as dev@yourcompany.com)

  • Everything from the individual license

  • Share that login with your team guilt-free!

Going into this I thought $100 is a bit much, but now I can see how much work went into this making it all simple and easy to understand.

Totally worth it.

You've struck a great balance between showing how to write tests and application without getting sidetracked with other app details. You've upgraded my skills. Thanks again!

— Krister Viirsaar

This was the biggest instructive course I've learned in my elixir journey. Thank you so much for all your efforts

— Shahryar Tavakkoli

Hot damn! This was a thorough, amazing and thoughtfully organized course! Amazing work. Much respect.

— Benjamin Shepard

I can't thank you enough for the course! It's allowed me to get comfortable with Elixir and Phoenix LiveView quickly as my career shifted from data science (C++, Python, R) to web-app testing & development.

— Ian MacDonald

"But what if I don't learn how to test LiveView?"

That's a fair question.

I truly believe this course will teach you how to test LiveView effectively. But, hey, I've been wrong before. 🤷

That's why I offer my Learn to test guarantee!

Learn to test guarantee

If you don't learn how to test LiveView by the time you finish the course, I will give you a full refund.

If you don't learn, I don't earn.

So, what do you have to lose? Get the course now!

Other (in)frequently asked questions

Can’t find the answer you’re looking for?

Send me an email

Who is this course for?
Developers who want to learn to test LiveView effectively, without creating tests that are brittle, slow, and hard to maintain.
What are the videos like?
Tons of live coding. Each video should feel a little like you're pairing with me.
Do I need to know how to use LiveView?
Yes. I assume you have knowledge of LiveView in the course. You don't need to be an expert, but it helps if you've seen it before. If you've never used LiveView, I recommend The Pragmatic Studio's LiveView Course .
What's your refund policy?
I offer my Learn to Test Guarantee. If you don't learn how to test LiveView by the time you're done with the course, I'll give you a refund. If you don't learn, I don't earn.
What if I live in a different country?
If the course is too expensive becuase you live in a different country, I'm happy to give you a discount. Just send me an email with the country where you live, along with a suggested reasonable price for your country, and I'll send you a discount code.
German Velasco

About Me

German Velasco

I'm a software developer who's been practicing test-driven development for a decade.

You might recognize me from my one of my short video tips I share weekly , my Testing LiveView ElixirConf talk , my TDD Phoenix book , or one of my blog posts .

For the past six years, I've been helping clients deal with slow test suites, intermittent failures, difficult test cases, and more.

Testing is my passion. I love thinking about it, iterating on practices, and figuring out how to write tests that are valuable, stable, and easy to maintain.