Difference between assertEquals and assertSame in PHPUnit?

Question

PHPUnit contains an assertEquals() method, but it also has an assertSame() one. At first glance it looks like they do the same thing.

What is the difference between the t

Answer 1

When it comes to objects comparison:

assertSame

Can only assert if two objects are referencing the same object instance. So even if two separate objects have for all of their attributes exactly the same values, assertSame() will fail if they don't reference the same instance.

$expected = new \stdClass();
$expected->foo = 'foo';
$expected->bar = 'bar';

$actual = new \stdClass();
$actual->foo = 'foo';
$actual->bar = 'bar';

$this->assertSame($expected, $actual); // FAILS

assertEquals

Can assert if two separate objects match their attribute values in any case. So it's the method suitable for asserting object match.

$this->assertEquals($expected, $actual); // PASSES

Reference