When we're writing tests, we isolate the unit under test. Sometimes (but not always) that means we avoid exercising any of the collaborating objects. That can be for a number of reasons: sometimes it helps us work toward our goal of independent tests, and sometimes it's because those collaborating objects have side-effects that would complicate our tests.

For example, with React components we sometimes want to avoid rendering child components because they perform network requests when they are mounted.

A test double is an object that acts in place of a collaborating object. In Chapter 2, Test-driving Data Input with React, you saw an example of a collaborator: the onSubmit function, which is a prop passed to both CustomerForm and AppointmentForm. We can use a test double in place of the real function to help us define the relationship between the...