[TIP] [python] Re: Mock Testing Patterns

[Michael Foord]

Martin Aspeli wrote:
> Michael Foord wrote:
>   
>> Hello all,
>>
>> It seems to me that most of the patterns followed by mocking libraries are:
>>
>> record expectations
>> actions
>> verify
>>
>> I find this a much less intuitive pattern than the standard unit testing 
>> pattern:
>>
>> action
>> assertions
>>
>> Do any of the mocking libraries support this pattern - asserting what 
>> methods were called afterwards rather than setting expectations ahead of 
>> the actions?
>>     
>
> The problem with this approach is that you usually need your mocked code 
> to return something (or even modify a passed-in parameter) for the test 
> to work at all. You obviously can't specify what should've been returned 
> after the code has executed. :)
>   

Well, the pattern is usually more like:

setup mocks
action
assertions

So yes, there is some setup to put the mocks in place.

This pattern works *fine*, but we aren't yet using a mocking library. I 
wonder if there are any that will support us in this pattern rather than 
switching to recording expectations.

Michael
http://www.manning.com/foord

> Martin
>
>