FrontendHaltTesting·Intermediate·Conceptual·1 min read
Why is mocking at the network layer usually better than mocking a data-fetching hook?
Short interview answer
Mocking the network preserves the real hook's logic — loading states, error handling, caching — under test, and it exercises the same code path production traffic uses, so a bug in the hook itself would still be caught.
Key takeaway
Explain the underlying mental model clearly, then support it with a concrete example and its trade-offs.