Not to mention that before TDD the same documentation was provided as plain text. TDD simply realized that if the documentation was also executable that the imp

Not to mention that before TDD the same documentation was provided as plain text. TDD simply realized that if the documentation was also executable that the implementation could be automatically validated for compliance against the documentation. The idea that you are reconstructing the compiler doesn't even track on the surface. It is true that one may use testing to stand in for the lack of static typing, which is no dobut what the parent is talking about, but TDD != Testing. Testing long predates TDD.