RICK: Generating Mocks from Production Data

TL;DR

RICK is a tool that automatically generates realistic mocks and stubs for unit tests by observing and analyzing the interactions of running Java applications, simplifying test creation.

Contribution

This paper introduces RICK, a novel tool that automatically creates test doubles from production data, enhancing test accuracy and developer productivity.

Findings

RICK successfully generates realistic mocks for real-world Java applications.

The tool improves testing efficiency by automating mock creation.

RICK produces accurate test doubles based on observed application behavior.

Abstract

Test doubles, such as mocks and stubs, are nifty fixtures in unit tests. They allow developers to test individual components in isolation from others that lie within or outside of the system. However, implementing test doubles within tests is not straightforward. With this demonstration, we introduce RICK, a tool that observes executing applications in order to automatically generate tests with realistic mocks and stubs. RICK monitors the invocation of target methods and their interactions with external components. Based on the data collected from these observations, RICK produces unit tests with mocks, stubs, and mock-based oracles. We highlight the capabilities of RICK, and how it can be used with real-world Java applications, to generate tests with mocks.