I totally agree - if you want to know if it works, you have to test it all together; however, that's not how I approach unit testing. I don't think mock objects are a good idea during integration testing with perhaps a few exceptions such as an external web service. When you want to ensure that your application works, testing the steps that actual users will go through is the way to know and mocking or stubbing functionality won't help.
Personally, I view unit testing differently. I see it as ensuring that my object gets the right data and sends the right messages. If you start adding tests for things like "did it save to the database" or "did it find 3 results" you're now involving your persistence layer with your testing of business logic. It's a tangential concern.
Personally, I view unit testing differently. I see it as ensuring that my object gets the right data and sends the right messages. If you start adding tests for things like "did it save to the database" or "did it find 3 results" you're now involving your persistence layer with your testing of business logic. It's a tangential concern.