[bluGill]

From the GP: mock data being manually manipulated by the test gave the result of test expected.

These tests are easy to write - your mock returns something, and then you verify that the API does nothing (thus the test fails), then returns whatever the mock does and the test passes. These tests are easy to write and they do fail until code is written. However they are of negative value - you cannot refactor anything as the code only calls a mock, and returns some data from the mock.

[randomdata]

I can't imagine writing a function that is nothing more than an identity function would be easy to write (unless it was explicitly intended to be an identity function, I suppose). There must be some terrible gut wrenching feeling that goes along with it, if nothing else? Frankly, I don't understand how this situation is possible in practice, but perhaps I misunderstand what is written?