> Breaking existing tests is rare. I don't mind some detective work when it happens. You start with a pretty strong lead, anyway: whatever you touched since the

> Breaking existing tests is rare. I don't mind some detective work when it happens. You start with a pretty strong lead, anyway: whatever you touched since the last time the test passed. You describe the exact situation where the advice is not helpful at all. Now imagine a large, very tightly interwoven codebase where in fact, making changes to a section of code breaks tests on the complete other side of the application. If you don't follow that advice, you are immediately blocked, and pretty much at the mercy of someone else fixing their test (probably to be less needlessly specific or less assertive after changing requirements). If they structured their test in a way that makes it clear why it should fail, you have the chance to investigate yourself how this contradicts with your changes.