[MO-java-users] the good use of mockobjects

[Mickael V. <mv...@ge...>]

Hi everybody,

I'm new to mockobjects and I try to understand to right way
to use them.

What I understound of mockobjects is that the good way to
use them is to know which interactions it will have with
your tested object , then make your mockobject respond to the
tested object requests and record them, at the end of the test
check that what has been recorded is correct. Is it true ?

Is it so important to test interactions with mockobjects if your
tested method returns the values you expected ?

Is it correct sometimes to put code in your mockobject
that does the same as the object it replaces instead of returning
values. Sometimes it may be easier to code the functionnality than
to emulate responses.

In my case I test services called from a servlet, so I manipulate
HttpRequest, HttpSession, ServletContext ... which I replaced with
mockobjects.
In this case I find it easier to code in the MockHttpSession the
setAttribute
and getAttribute methods than to guess which values will be asked if
the service puts a lot of objects in the session and remove them.
One service called by the servlet may have a lot of interactions
with mockobjects and I can't use real objects as I don't have
implementations.

Do you think it is an acceptable use of mockobjects ? Or did I miss
something ? I don't want to use Cactus which forces me to deploy.
Maybe my use of mockobjects is too close to the the simulation of
a web container ?

Mickael