So, one of the ways to use a mocking framework, is to simulate a object that you don't want to, or can't, create the ordinary way.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I have started using a new mocking framework called Moq. I really like this framework. It's easy to work with, and has a easy syntax. It heavily uses lambda expressions. I think this gives a very elegant and powerful syntax.

A small example of the syntax:

[Test]
public void Person_ValueIsReturned_ReturnsName()
{
Mock person = new Mock<IPerson>();
person.Expect(x => x.GetNameFromStore()).Return("James");
Employee employee = new Employee(person.Object);
Assert.AreEqual("James", employee.Name);
}

If you is used to working with Rhino Mocks, you probably wonder if I have forgotten to add Record/Playback. The thing is, you don't need it in this framework. It has a more NMock similar syntax.

If you expect a object to be called more than one time, you can write the syntax like this:

int elementCounter = 0;
person.Expect(x => x.GetNameFromStore).Returns(() =>
{
elementCounter++;
if (elementCounter == 1) return "James";
if (elementCounter == 2) return "Roy";
return "Default";
});

I will try to write more about this framework as I learn more about it.

Tags: moq