how-would-you-test.php

<?php

class User extends Eloquent {
    public function getOldest()
    {
        return $this->orderBy('age', 'desc')->first();
    }
}

2

When dealing with databases and queries, ALWAYS use integration. Yes, you could use a mock expectation that the method was called, and yes, you can have faith that Eloquent will query properly, but with databases, unless you are dealing with real data, you cannot always be absolutely sure that you did it right. What if you typo-d the method or the parameters in the production and test code? Your tests would pass, but you would have a nasty 🐛.

Mocks are much more useful for asserting that interfaces around external APIs are called properly from your own abstraction, not for testing that the ORM runs the right query and the database returns the right values.

Some combination of 2 and 3.

2

2 because we're dealing with datas from the database. Otherwise 3 if you intend to test a method that format a given data.

2 and 3

2

2, using an in-memory database. Good tutorial here: http://code.tutsplus.com/tutorials/testing-like-a-boss-in-laravel-models--net-30087