It's not that it is the first thing written--it's that it recommends writing broken code like "return 12" until a test knocks it down. I think that book (it's

It's not that it is the first thing written--it's that it recommends writing broken code like "return 12" until a test knocks it down. I think that book (it's been 15 years!) went through a currency-exchange example, but you know how they go: write your first test "The sqrt of 4 is 2".. make it pass "return 2" etc. In all cases, the person writing the code knows it won't stand, but they do it anyway. That was the parallel which prompted my comment.