Mockito Annotations and Basic Mocking

Mockito Annotations: @Mock, @InjectMocks, and @Spy

Creating Mock Objects with Mockito

Mock objects are crucial in isolating the code under test and verifying its behavior. Mockito provides several ways to create mock objects based on your needs. This section will explore different methods to create mock objects using Mockito.

Using the ‘@Mock’ annotation

As mentioned earlier, the ‘@Mock’ annotation is a convenient way to create mock objects. Mockito automatically creates a mock object for the corresponding class or interface when a particular field is annotated with ‘@Mock.’

Here’s an example:

@RunWith(MockitoJUnitRunner.class)
public class MyTest {
    @Mock
    private SomeDependency dependency;
    
    // Rest of the test code
}

In the above example, Mockito creates a mock object for the ‘SomeDependency’ class, which can be used to stub methods and verify interactions in your test cases.

Using the ‘Mockito.mock()’ method

Mock objects can be created using the ‘Mockito.mock()’ method as well.  This method takes a class or interface as an argument and returns a mock object of that type.

Here’s an example:

public class MyTest {
    private SomeDependency dependency;
    
    @Before
    public void setup() {
        dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    }
    
    // Rest of the test code
}

Here, employing the ‘Mockito.mock()’ method, a mock object is created for the ‘SomeDependency’ class, which is then assigned to the dependency field.

Using the ‘Mockito.spy()’ method

The ‘Mockito.spy()’ method allows you to create a partial mock object by wrapping an existing object. It retains the original behavior of the object while allowing you to stub or verify specific methods.

Here’s an example:

public class MyTest {
    private SomeClass someObject;
    
    @Before
    public void setup() {
        someObject = Mockito.spy(new SomeClass());
    }
    
    // Rest of the test code
}

Here, the ‘Mockito.spy()’ method is employed to not only wrap an instance of SomeClass but also create a spy object, ‘someObject,’ which can be used in your test cases.

Stubbing methods are a fundamental aspect of Mockito. It allows you to define the behavior of mock objects and specify the values they should return when their methods are called. Mockito provides different ways to stub methods and return expected values. Let’s explore some of the techniques.

Using ‘thenReturn()’

The ‘thenReturn()’ method is used to stub a method and specify the value it should return when invoked. You can chain multiple thenReturn() calls to specify different return values based on different scenarios.

Here’s an example:

@Test
public void testSomeMethod() {
    SomeDependency dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    Mockito.when(dependency.someMethod()).thenReturn("Hello, Mockito!");
    
    // Rest of the test code
}

Here, employing the ‘thenReturn()’ method, ‘someMethod()’ of the ‘SomeDependency’ mock object is stubbed, thereby instructing it to return the string “Hello, Mockito!” when the method is called.

Using ‘thenAnswer()’

The ‘thenAnswer()’ method allows you to provide a custom implementation to determine the return value based on the method arguments or other factors. It takes an instance of the Answer functional interface as an argument, where you can define the desired behavior.

Here’s an example:

@Test
public void testSomeMethod() {
    SomeDependency dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    Mockito.when(dependency.someMethod()).thenAnswer(invocation -> {
        // Custom logic to calculate the return value based on invocation details
        return "Dynamic value";
    });
    
    // Rest of the test code
}

Here, employing the ‘thenAnswer()’ method, the ‘someMethod()’ of the ‘SomeDependency’ mock object is stubbed with a custom implementation that dynamically calculates the return value.

One of the key features of Mockito is the ability to verify whether specific methods were invoked on mock objects and understand how they interacted with them. This allows you to ensure that the expected interactions between objects are taking place during the test.

Let’s explore how to verify method invocations and interactions using Mockito.

• Using ‘verify()’

The ‘verify()’ method determines whether a specific method was called on a mock object. You can specify the precise method, the number of invocations, and the sequence in which the invocations must be verified.

Here’s an example:

@Test
public void testSomeMethod() {
    SomeDependency dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    
    // Invoke the method on the mock object
    
    Mockito.verify(dependency).someMethod();
}

In the example from above, availing the ‘verify()’ method, we can verify whether the ‘someMethod()’ of the ‘SomeDependency’ mock object was called at least once during the test.

• Using ‘verify()’ with ‘times()’

A combination of the ‘verify()’ and ‘times()’ methods can be employed to specify the exact number of invocations to be verified. This can prove useful when ensuring that a method has been called a specific number of times.

Here’s an example:

@Test
public void testSomeMethod() {
    SomeDependency dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    
    // Invoke the method on the mock object multiple times
    
    Mockito.verify(dependency, Mockito.times(3)).someMethod();
}

In the above example, the ‘verify()’ method is used with ‘times(3)’ to verify that the ‘someMethod()’ of the ‘SomeDependency’ mock object was called exactly three times during the test.

• Using ‘verify()’ with argument matching

The ‘verify()’ method can also be used with argument matching to verify that a specific method was called with specific arguments.

Here’s an example:

@Test
public void testSomeMethod() {
    SomeDependency dependency = Mockito.mock(SomeDependency.class);
    
    // Invoke the method on the mock object with specific arguments
    
    Mockito.verify(dependency).someMethod(Mockito.eq("argument"));
}

The ‘verify()’ method is employed along with ‘eq(“argument”)’ in the above example in order to verify whether the ‘someMethod()’ of the ‘SomeDependency’ mock object was called with the argument “argument” during the test.

Using these verification techniques ensures that the desired method invocations and interactions occur as expected in your tests.