Mocks? What do you mean?

Some time ago, I had to explain the concept of mocking to someone with little experience. I am not sure if I delivered my message well back then.

Upon reflection, I have come up with the following way to explain mocks in layman's terms:

Real world analogy

Imagine you are a scientist. You are in an underground laboratory, working on a new plant species that should be able to grow all over the world and solve world hunger issues. How would you test your plant "end-to-end" without actually travelling and planting it all over the world?

Answer

You could replace the sun with an "artificial sun" (also known as “smart bulbs”??). This way, you can control and inspect the amount of light, angle, duration, and wavelength of the light that our wondrous plants are receiving.

These smart bulbs are your "mocks". From the plant's perspective, they look pretty much like the real sun, but for you, they provide much needed control and measurements.