Slides

Stubbing

  • sometimes a test needs to trick the code

    • to test all cases
    • for speed
    • for clarity
  • to stub a method is to replace that method with a block during testing

Stubbing a Mock Clock

  • normally, Time.now returns the current time
  • in this test, we want to trick the code into thinking it's a different time

    midnight = Time.parse("12:00 am")
    Time.stub(:now) { midnight }
    
  • the stub method temporarily replaces a method ("now") with a block ("{ midnight }")

  • Before stubbing, Time.now returns the actual current time

  • After stubbing, Time.now returns the fake time (midnight)

Stubbing a Time Machine

  • since our test has access to the fake time, we can change it at will
  • so we can pretend an hour passed in just an instant

    fake_time = Time.parse("12:00 pm")
    Time.stub(:now) { fake_time }
    do_something
    fake_time += 3600  # number of seconds in an hour
    do_something_else
    
  • during do_something the code thinks it's noon, but during do_something_else the code thinks it's one o'clock

Test Doubles

  • stubs are a form of test doubles, aka mock objects
  • others include mocks, fakes, spies, saboteurs...

Mocking Advice

Never mock the object under test. - Alex

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Never mock values, sometimes mock entities, but mock services freely. - J.B. Rainsberger