In the context of software development, particularly in testing and agile methodologies, stubbing is a technique used to replace a segment of code with a temporary substitute that returns controlled results. This allows developers to simulate specific scenarios without needing the full, functional code or external dependencies, enabling unit testing or integration testing in isolation. For example, if a particular service or function needs to be called but is incomplete or unavailable, a stub can be created to ensure the interconnected parts of the system can still be tested. Stubs are generally used to return predetermined responses or behaviors that facilitate the testing process without executing the actual code.