Mocker Laravel Package

Getting Started

1. Install via Composer: composer require --dev reecem/mocker
2. In tests or seeders, instantiate the Mocker class (typically namespaced as Reecem\Mocker\Mocker)
3. Begin by mocking simple values:

   $mocker = new Mocker();
   $name = $mocker->string(); // e.g., 'John Doe'
   $age = $mocker->integer(18, 80); // e.g., 42
   

4. For Laravel: Use in DatabaseSeeder, feature tests, or tinker to generate realistic test data on-the-fly.

Implementation Patterns

• Object hydration: Mock complex objects with chained generators:

  $user = new User();
  $user->name = $mocker->string();
  $user->email = $mocker->email();
  $user->created_at = $mocker->dateTime(); // Carbon instance
  

• Seeded reproducibility: Set a seed for deterministic mocks in tests:

  $mocker->seed(12345); // Ensures same values across runs
  

• Laravel integration: Register as a shared instance in TestCase::setUp() or via Laravel’s container (e.g., bind Mocker::class as singleton) to reuse across test classes.
• Custom generators: Extend or override built-ins with domain-specific logic (e.g., ->companyName()), often via a custom wrapper or factory class.

Gotchas and Tips

• Randomness vs. determinism: Without seeding, mocks differ per run — add $mocker->seed() explicitly in tests where consistency matters.
• Laravel time helpers: Its dateTime() returns Carbon instances (via faker), but other generators may return primitives — verify type compatibility before asserting or persisting.
• Package maturity: Low stars (7) and last release in 2023 indicate low activity — audit the codebase before adopting in critical flows; consider for internal tooling or non-production-critical test scaffolds only.
• No out-of-the-box Laravel model support: Unlike factory() workflows, it won’t handle Eloquent relationships automatically — pair with factories for full ORM seeding.
• Error-prone chaining: Nested object mocks can become messy; prefer extracting logic into small, reusable generator methods (e.g., createUserMock()) for maintainability.