Comments on: Data that won’t hold still http://www.sheysrebellion.net/blog/2006/11/07/data-that-wont-hold-still/ I sleep with pillows on my head. Mon, 19 Jul 2010 09:00:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Ben Scheirman http://www.sheysrebellion.net/blog/2006/11/07/data-that-wont-hold-still/comment-page-1/#comment-58 Ben Scheirman Tue, 07 Nov 2006 20:09:54 +0000 http://www.sheysrebellion.net/blog/?p=30#comment-58 This is precisely the case where you need to use mock objects for testing. You need to be able to write your app given your assumptions (whether they are right or wrong). Your app talks to the sockets, so you have to introduce a facade that hides that fact. During testing you mock it out to provide data that you think is realistic. You will likely have to adapt this as the data changes, but it allows you to move forward. This is also a good opportunity to put in some effective logging to notify you if data comes in that is not recognized. NMock2 is a cool mock objects framework, as is RhinoCommons. They approach syntax a bit differently, so it's a matter of preference really. This is precisely the case where you need to use mock objects for testing.

You need to be able to write your app given your assumptions (whether they are right or wrong). Your app talks to the sockets, so you have to introduce a facade that hides that fact. During testing you mock it out to provide data that you think is realistic. You will likely have to adapt this as the data changes, but it allows you to move forward.

This is also a good opportunity to put in some effective logging to notify you if data comes in that is not recognized.

NMock2 is a cool mock objects framework, as is RhinoCommons. They approach syntax a bit differently, so it’s a matter of preference really.

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