Your Test Strategy Should Match Your Reality

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:00:00 -0400

The critique of over-mocking in unit tests is worth taking seriously. It’s a real problem, and it’s more widespread than the industry generally acknowledges.

When you mock every dependency in a unit test, you’re no longer testing whether your code works – you’re testing whether your code does what you told your mocks to pretend the dependencies do. If the mocks don’t reflect production behavior, your tests pass and your production system still breaks. Worse, those tests make your codebase rigid. Every internal refactor requires updating a web of mock expectations, which creates friction, which leads to tests being deleted rather than maintained, which defeats the purpose entirely.

Software Engineering on Rough Edges

Your Test Strategy Should Match Your Reality