A very good introduction to the best testing framework for the Java platform

In my opinion, the Spock Framework is currently the most convenient testing framework for the Java platform. Since it is built on the Groovy language, it is very expressive.

Because it also incorporates parts of Mockito, it is very easy to write stubs and mocks. Due to the inclusion of JBehave, it is even possible to write tests that can be read by non-programmers, such as those from the business side. One can therefore also see Spock as an intermediate step towards Behavior-Driven Development (BDD).

The book itself starts relatively slowly and also explains some basics of Groovy in one chapter. The fundamentals of testing are explained briefly but sufficiently. After the basics of Spock, parameterized tests, and mocks and stubs, the integration with other frameworks such as Spring or REST services is also explained. Java EE might be a bit neglected.

All in all, a successful start into the world of Spock (from which you won’t want to return to the JUnit or TestNG world).

• Konstantinos Kapelonis
• Java Testing with Spock
• Manning
• 2016

See also the german review on Amazon.