How can I develop a testable TcpClient / TcpListener Wrapper

Question

i want to develop a testable TcpClient / TcpListener wrapper. I want to be able to mock the incoming and outgoing data.

I want to do this because i have higher tier

Answer 1

No. Don't mock ITcpClient and INetworkStream.

A network layer is nothing more than this:

public interface INetworkClient : IDisposable
{
    event EventHandler<ReceivedEventArgs> BufferReceived;
    event EventHandler Disconnected;
    void Send(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count);
}

public class ReceivedEventArgs : EventArgs
{
    public ReceivedEventArgs(byte[] buffer)
    {
        if (buffer == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("buffer");
        Buffer = buffer;
        Offset = 0;
        Count = buffer.Length;
    }

    public byte[] Buffer { get; private set; }
    public int Offset { get; private set; }
    public int Count { get; private set; }
}

It should not matter if you are using a Socket, TcpClient or a NetworkStream.

Update, how to write tests

Here are some test examples using fluent assertions and NSubstitute.

Class being tested:

public class ReceivedMessageEventArgs : EventArgs
{
    public ReceivedMessageEventArgs(string message)
    {
        if (message == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("message");
        Message = message;
    }

    public string Message { get; private set; }
}

public class SomeService
{
    private readonly INetworkClient _networkClient;
    private string _buffer;

    public SomeService(INetworkClient networkClient)
    {
        if (networkClient == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("networkClient");
        _networkClient = networkClient;
        _networkClient.Disconnected += OnDisconnect;
        _networkClient.BufferReceived += OnBufferReceived;
        Connected = true;
    }

    public bool Connected { get; private set; }

    public event EventHandler<ReceivedMessageEventArgs> MessageReceived = delegate { };

    public void Send(string msg)
    {
        if (msg == null) throw new ArgumentNullException("msg");
        if (Connected == false)
            throw new InvalidOperationException("Not connected");

        var buffer = Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(msg + "\n");
        _networkClient.Send(buffer, 0, buffer.Length);
    }

    private void OnDisconnect(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        Connected = false;
        _buffer = "";
    }

    private void OnBufferReceived(object sender, ReceivedEventArgs e)
    {
        _buffer += Encoding.ASCII.GetString(e.Buffer, e.Offset, e.Count);
        var pos = _buffer.IndexOf('\n');
        while (pos > -1)
        {
            var msg = _buffer.Substring(0, pos);
            MessageReceived(this, new ReceivedMessageEventArgs(msg));

            _buffer = _buffer.Remove(0, pos + 1);
            pos = _buffer.IndexOf('\n');
        }
    }
}

And finally the tests:

[TestClass]
public class SomeServiceTests
{
    [TestMethod]
    public void service_triggers_msg_event_when_a_complete_message_is_recieved()
    {
        var client = Substitute.For<INetworkClient>();
        var expected = "Hello world";
        var e = new ReceivedEventArgs(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(expected + "\n"));
        var actual = "";

        var sut = new SomeService(client);
        sut.MessageReceived += (sender, args) => actual = args.Message;
        client.BufferReceived += Raise.EventWith(e);

        actual.Should().Be(expected);
    }

    [TestMethod]
    public void Send_should_invoke_Send_of_networkclient()
    {
        var client = Substitute.For<INetworkClient>();
        var msg = "Hello world";

        var sut = new SomeService(client);
        sut.Send(msg);

        client.Received().Send(Arg.Any<byte[]>(), 0, msg.Length + 1);
    }

    [TestMethod]
    public void Send_is_not_allowed_while_disconnected()
    {
        var client = Substitute.For<INetworkClient>();
        var msg = "Hello world";

        var sut = new SomeService(client);
        client.Disconnected += Raise.Event();
        Action actual = () => sut.Send(msg);

        actual.ShouldThrow<InvalidOperationException>();
    }
}

Update (2020-01-23)

Today I would just have made an async interface:

public interface INetworkClient : IDisposable
{
    Task SendAsync(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count);
    Task<int> ReceiveAsync(byte[] buffer, int offset, int count);
}

To achieve that, you need to use a SocketAwaitable.

Answer 2

You could use the Decorator Pattern

• Make your very own class that just wraps the TcpClient
• This class simply does pass through calls to functions in TcpClient.
• An overloaded constructor to this class could accept an instance of an actual tcp client which it would wrap, if creating one is involved.
• Extract the interface so your new class should implement the interface ITcpClient
• Update all your dependencies to use the new interface ITcpClient
• Your new interface is now mockable, inject your mocks were appropriate and test away :)

Repeat the same for TcpServer.