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The problem that I have with this article is how people will interpret the results. The test is comparing (presumably) Comp. Sci. graduate students who already

by jmadsen 10y ago

The problem that I have with this article is how people will interpret the results. The test is comparing (presumably) Comp. Sci. graduate students who already know good design patterns, best practices, etc at a relatively high level to see if they are faster and more accurate by testing before vs. after writing the main code. (TDD vs. TLD) That's all well and fine, and possibly completely accurate. However, many people's takeaway is going to be the out-of-context & incorrect title of this post. (It does not say TDD is worthless - it says it is essentially the same as TLD) I've always looked at TDD as a tool to help push less experienced, less "educated" developers into 1) even using tests at any point of the development cycle, 2) creating tighter, cleaner and MORE TESTABLE code by the time they've reached the end of the cycle. So, if your team is and always will be well-educated, experienced programmers who already understand how to always do everything correctly from the beginning, feel free to use either method. Otherwise, I'd urge you to consider TDD.

sporkenfang 10y ago
You clearly think very highly of CS grad students :) I've met a few that couldn't code let alone write proper tests, even though their foci were not policy or say the lighter side of user experience.
- jmadsen 10y ago
  Really? Almost all of the post-graduate CS students I've known are experienced people who went back to school because they were at the point where they needed to either move into management or become a very high-level expert. That's only personal experience, however, and mostly out-of-date That said, I would hope any of them would be a step up on the new programmers from the "churn 'em out" short courses many are forced to take as the only affordable way they have to get into the industry, but then are left with little knowledge beyond how to get the requirements fulfilled.
  - DannyBee 10y ago
    Yes. I can say 100% that the major difference I see in hiring interviews between grads and laterals is coding ability. Even at PhD+1 it's vastly improved

by jmadsen 10y ago

sporkenfang 10y ago

You clearly think very highly of CS grad students :) I've met a few that couldn't code let alone write proper tests, even though their foci were not policy or say the lighter side of user experience.

jmadsen 10y ago
Really? Almost all of the post-graduate CS students I've known are experienced people who went back to school because they were at the point where they needed to either move into management or become a very high-level expert. That's only personal experience, however, and mostly out-of-date That said, I would hope any of them would be a step up on the new programmers from the "churn 'em out" short courses many are forced to take as the only affordable way they have to get into the industry, but then are left with little knowledge beyond how to get the requirements fulfilled.
- DannyBee 10y ago
  Yes. I can say 100% that the major difference I see in hiring interviews between grads and laterals is coding ability. Even at PhD+1 it's vastly improved