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Project: Rspec-role-mocks

Publisher: treppo

Rspec–RoleMocks Comparison

A comparison of Rspec's builtin mocking features and Rspec–RoleMocks

Background
Given
a file named "app/lookup.rb" with: 
class Lookup
  def initialize(args)
    @ids = args.fetch :ids
    @movie_db = args.fetch :movie_db
  end

  def movie_info
    @movie_db.find @ids #expects the movie_db to respond to #find
  end
end
Given
a file named "app/imdb.rb" with: 
class Imdb
  def fetch(ids) # not called find anymore
  end
end
Scenarios
  1. Using usual rspec doubles
  2. Using verified mocks
  3. Using role–based mocks
Using usual rspec doubles

Even when the mocked collaborator's interface changes, the test for the
client class still passes, using the old interface for the mocks.

Given
a file named "spec/lookup_spec.rb" with: 
require 'spec_helper'
require 'lookup'

describe Lookup do
  it 'looks up movie infos and stores them' do
    ids = [1, 2]
    movie_db = double('MovieDb')
    lookup = described_class.new(ids: ids, movie_db: movie_db)

    expect(movie_db).to receive(:find).with(ids)

    lookup.movie_info
  end
end
Given
a file named "spec/spec_helper.rb" with: 
$LOAD_PATH.unshift('app')
When
I run rspec
Then
the examples should all pass
Using verified mocks

Using verified mocks, every change to the collaborator's interface leads to
a failing test for the client class – this is a good thing. But the
mock is bound to the concrete implementation, therefore creating unnecessary
coupling. Swapping that collaborator to a different implementation, breaks
the test, even when the new collaborator is implementing the same interface.

While designing the system, mocks are a useful tool to explore a
collaborator's interface. With the verifying mocks, the collaborator
implementation already has to be in place, or the test will fail. The
developer does not get the benefit of putting off the creation of the
concrete class.

Given
a file named "spec/lookup_spec.rb" with: 
require 'spec_helper'
require 'lookup'
require 'imdb'

describe Lookup do
  it 'looks up movie infos and stores them' do
    ids = [1, 2]
    movie_db = instance_double('Imdb') # hard dependency
    lookup = described_class.new(ids: ids, movie_db: movie_db)

    expect(movie_db).to receive(:find).with(ids)

    lookup.movie_info
  end
end
Given
a file named "spec/spec_helper.rb" with: 
$LOAD_PATH.unshift('app')
When
I run rspec
Then
the examples should all fail
Using role–based mocks
Given
a file named "spec/lookup_spec.rb" with: 
require 'spec_helper'
require 'lookup'
require 'roles/movie_db'

describe Lookup do
  it 'looks up movie infos and stores them' do
    ids = [1, 2]
    movie_db = role_double('MovieDb') # no dependency on concrete class
    lookup = described_class.new(ids: ids, movie_db: movie_db)

    expect(movie_db).to receive(:find).with(ids)

    lookup.movie_info
  end
end
Given
a file named "spec/roles/movie_db.rb" with: 
RSpec.define_role 'MovieDb' do
  def find(ids); end
end
Given
a file named "spec/imdb_spec.rb" with: 
require 'spec_helper'
require 'imdb'
require 'roles/movie_db'

describe Imdb do
  it_plays_role 'MovieDb'
end
Given
a file named "spec/spec_helper.rb" with: 
require 'rspec/role-mocks'
$LOAD_PATH.unshift('app')
When
I run rspec
Then
1 example should fail

Last published over 5 years ago by treppo.