I don't know how to code without TDD

  • I don't know how to work effectively in other ways, because I don't know when I'm done
  • Rails has done many heavy lifting so that it skips many TDD cycles for you (which may not be a good thing)
  • Commit when a test fails as expected and use it as the todo reminder
  • Approaching your work with a process is important
    • TDD is one of the best processes to work
      1. It's repeatable
      2. It's a habit you can get into

-- from 139: Red, Green, Refactor (Alex Clark & Sean Doyle) - The Bike Shed

I have the similar feeling for TDD as well, if I don't code in TDD, I would be lost pretty quickly without the fast feedback loop and the clear goal set by my tests.

It might be hard to imagine if you haven't tried TDD, yet. This quick talk might help you to understand that a little bit.

  • 5 underplayed premises
    Money
    We're in this for the money TDD is about Ship More Value Faster
    Judgement
    We reply on human judgment
    Correlation
    Internal Quality and Productivity Correlate
    Chaining
    Test a chain by testing links Chain (Mock-style) tests are the cheapest tests
    Steering
    Testability helps steer our designs
    1. Is this testable?
    2. Is the test cheap?
    3. Can we make it cheaper?
  • Underplayed? Visible outside, Invisible Inside
    • Inside TDD, they’re almost invisible to us. They’re the air we breathe.
    • That means they don’t pay a lot of attention to explaining to them.

-- from Five Underplayed Premises Of TDD - GeePawHill.Org