2008.3

As a young programmer, I tried to avoid mocking my objects, as I was told it would only make them angrier.  But as I learned to embrace unit testing and Test Driven Development, I began to understand the value of mocking and other substitution techniques like stubs and fakes.  This session will cover many of the ways mocking can help you, whether you are trying to get some old, ugly code under test, or trying to use test driven development to drive out better designs for your application.  We'll also take a look at some of the tools that can make mocking easier for you.

Brian Donahue is a software developer with 10 years experience in both the Java and Microsoft platforms, focusing primarily on web-based applications. Brian's consulting company, Vitreo Solutions ( www.vitreosolutions.com), builds custom business software for a variety of clients.  He recently organized the Philadelphia " ALT.NET" user group (www.phillyalt.net) which he has described as "an open conversation about the 'pursuit of happiness' on the Microsoft platform."  Principles such as agility, testability, and maintainability are common themes, as well as discussion of open source software and other alternatives that can help make your .NET software development easier, and more fun.   Brian blogs at http://persistall.com