Mocking vs Property Based Testing

Developers should use mocking when writing unit tests to isolate code from external dependencies, enabling faster and more deterministic tests that don't rely on network calls, databases, or third-party services meets developers should learn property based testing when building robust, high-quality software, especially in domains like data processing, financial systems, or compilers where correctness is critical. Here's our take.

Mocking

Nice Pick

Developers should use mocking when writing unit tests to isolate code from external dependencies, enabling faster and more deterministic tests that don't rely on network calls, databases, or third-party services

Pros

• It's particularly useful in test-driven development (TDD) and continuous integration pipelines to ensure code quality and catch bugs early, such as when testing API integrations or complex business logic without actual data sources
• Related to: unit-testing, test-driven-development

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Property Based Testing

Developers should learn Property Based Testing when building robust, high-quality software, especially in domains like data processing, financial systems, or compilers where correctness is critical

Pros

• It is particularly useful for testing functions with complex input domains, stateful systems, or when you need to ensure invariants hold across many scenarios, as it can reveal subtle bugs and improve test coverage with less manual effort
• Related to: unit-testing, test-driven-development

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Mocking is a concept while Property Based Testing is a methodology. We picked Mocking based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Mocking wins

Based on overall popularity. Mocking is more widely used, but Property Based Testing excels in its own space.