Stop Mocking Everything: A Practical Guide to Integration Testing | Matt Wicks

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In this interview from NDC Sydney, Matt Wicks chats with Jimmy Bogard about what integration tests should really look like in modern .NET applications. They unpack the difference between fast tests, slow tests, and really slow tests, and explain why true integration tests should focus on real dependencies rather than brittle mocks or heavily abstracted code. Jimmy shares lessons from long-running client projects, including how teams moved from slow, sequential test suites to fast parallel execution by writing tests with fewer hidden assumptions. The discussion covers database cleanup strategies, why mocking databases often leads to false confidence, when unit tests are still valuable, and how overusing patterns like repositories and unit of work can actually get in the way. They also explore how tools like Test containers, Respawn, and .NET Aspire fit into the picture, plus where AI may help developers in future. If you want practical advice for writing reliable, maintainable tests that reflect real-world behavior, this conversation is packed with insights.

00:00 | Introduction to integration testing at NDC Sydney
02:00 | Why brittle unit tests pushed teams toward integration tests
04:03 | Parallel test execution and cutting suite times dramatically
06:03 | Hidden test assumptions that break parallelization
08:00 | Structuring tests and framework trade-offs
10:06 | Why mocking databases leads to false positives
12:02 | Rethinking the testing pyramid and when unit tests matter
14:01 | Repositories, unit of work, and avoiding unnecessary abstractions
18:03 | Testcontainers, real dependencies, and cloud-friendly setups
23:01 | .NET Aspire, orchestration, and the future of integration testing

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Matt Wicks – SSW Solution Architect
About: https://www.ssw.com.au/people/matt-wi…

#dotnet #integrationtesting #unittesting #softwarearchitecture #cleanarchitecture #testautomation #testcontainers #aspire #devops #jimmybogard #ndcsydney #sswtv

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About the speakers

Matt is an elite SSW Solution Architect who runs the Newcastle office. Matt stands out in the tech landscape as a certified Scrum Master, an Octopus Insider, and is GitHub accredited. From the early days when .NET 2 was still in beta, Matt has been capitalizing on the full potential of the Microsoft stack, coding his way to ingenious solutions that deliver significant business value.

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