Chapter 6. Digging deeper into isolation frameworks
This chapter covers
- Working with constrained versus unconstrained frameworks
- Understanding how unconstrained profiler-based frameworks work
- Defining the values of a good isolation framework
In the previous chapter, we used NSubstitute to create fakes. In this chapter, we’ll step back to look at the bigger picture of isolation frameworks both in .NET and outside it. The world of isolation frameworks is vast, and there are many different things to consider when you choose one.
Let’s start with a simple question: Why do some frameworks have more abilities than others? For example, some frameworks are able to fake static methods, and some aren’t. Some are even able to fake objects that haven’t yet been created, and others are blissfully unaware of such abilities. What gives?
Isolation frameworks in .NET (and in Java, C++, and other static languages) fall into two basic groups based on their abilities to do specific things in the programming language. I call these two archetypes unconstrained and constrained.
Constrained frameworks in .NET include Rhino Mocks, Moq, NMock, EasyMock, NSubstitute, and FakeItEasy. In Java, jMock and EasyMock are examples of constrained frameworks.