Resetting The Database After Each Test

It is often useful to reset your database after each test so that data from a previous test does not interfere with subsequent tests. The RefreshDatabase trait takes the most optimal approach to migrating your test database depending on if you are using an in-memory database or a traditional database. Use the trait on your test class and everything will be handled for you:

namespace Tests\Feature;

use Tests\TestCase;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\WithoutMiddleware;

class ExampleTest extends TestCase
{
    use RefreshDatabase;

    /**
     * A basic functional test example.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function testBasicExample()
    {
        $response = $this->get('/');

        // ...
    }
}

Writing Factories
When testing, you may need to insert a few records into your database before executing your test. Instead of manually specifying the value of each column when you create this test data, Laravel allows you to define a default set of attributes for each of your Eloquent models using model factories. To get started, take a look at the database/factories/UserFactory.php file in your application. Out of the box, this file contains one factory definition:

use Faker\Generator as Faker;
$factory->define(App\User::class, function (Faker $faker) {
    return [
        'name' => $faker->name,
        'email' => $faker->unique()->safeEmail,
        'email_verified_at' => now(),
        'password' => '$2y$10$TKh8H1.PfQx37YgCzwiKb.KjNyWgaHb9cbcoQgdIVFlYg7B77UdFm', // secret
        'remember_token' => str_random(10),
    ];
});

Within the Closure, which serves as the factory definition, you may return the default test values of all attributes on the model. The Closure will receive an instance of the Faker PHP library, which allows you to conveniently generate various kinds of random data for testing.
You may also create additional factory files for each model for better organization. For example, you could create UserFactory.php and CommentFactory.php files within your database/factories directory. All of the files within the factories directory will automatically be loaded by Laravel.

Using Factories
Creating Models
Once you have defined your factories, you may use the global factory function in your tests or seed files to generate model instances. So, let’s take a look at a few examples of creating models. First, we’ll use the make method to create models but not save them to the database:

public function testDatabase()
{
    $user = factory(App\User::class)->make();

    // Use model in tests...
}
// Create three App\User instances...
$users = factory(App\User::class, 3)->make();
$users = factory(App\User::class, 5)->states('delinquent')->make();
$users = factory(App\User::class, 5)->states('premium', 'delinquent')->make();
$user = factory(App\User::class)->make([
    'name' => 'Abigail',
]);