What's the Difference Between Mocks and Stubs, and Why Does It Matter?

In the tech world, it's easy to confuse terms, especially when they sound similar but have distinct meanings. A common mix-up occurs with "mocks" and "stubs" in programming, especially in the context of testing.

While both are tools used to simulate the behavior of real objects in tests, they serve different purposes.

Mocks are designed for interaction testing, focusing on the behavior and the sequence of actions between objects.

Stubs, on the other hand, are used to provide predefined responses to calls during the test, without any concern for the interaction sequence.

Understanding the difference enhances testing strategies and software design, encouraging clearer, more maintainable code.