8 ms·
It seems quite overwhelming and daunting to me
by 7speter 4y ago
It seems quite overwhelming and daunting to me
- papito 4y agoI would say overwhelming and daunting is not knowing why your software becomes fragile and low quality without tests. TDD gives you a sense of control. You know that you are done once your tests (read: documented requirements) pass. And yes, I realize not doing TDD is not the same as not doing tests at all, but writing tests post-fact is just an excuse to wiggle out of writing them. "It worked when I coded it!"
- wpietri 4y agoI think it's harder to set up a project initially for it. And converting a brownfield project to tests is a bear. But once it's working, it's the opposite of overwhelming. The red-green-refactor cycle of TDD lets you take work in very small chunks. And because you get great test coverage as part of it, there are way fewer landmines. For me at least, TDD in a good code base is the most soothing and productive way to work I've found so far.
- Consultant32452 4y agoThis is not intended to be snippy. What makes writing tests more overwhelming and daunting than writing any other form of code?
- TylerE 4y agoIt’s very difficult to know if it’s the test that’s wrong and not the logic.
- randomdata 4y agoTests merely document expected behaviour of your application. If you are unsure of what behaviour your application should exhibit, you need to step away from the code and talk to your customers for a while.
- 7speter 4y agoThis exactly
- Consultant32452 4y agoBut if you don't know whether your test or your logic are wrong, eliminating the test doesn't feel like it clarifies anything.
- 7speter 4y agoI wasn’t intending to be snippy nor did I take your response as snippy