My main problem is with the “driven” part of “test driven”. I’m fine with aiming for pervasive coverage etc., but I disagree that tests are this amazing softwar

My main problem is with the “driven” part of “test driven”. I’m fine with aiming for pervasive coverage etc., but I disagree that tests are this amazing software design tool that the test-driven ethos seems to put forth. There’s something off in the cart vs. horse equation with that. I also work in a REPL. For me, design usually starts well before code. Then the REPL will take me towards defining behavior via understanding and exploring particulars around a solution or set of alternative solutions. Then as some final step, I will assert that it does what it should do, and guard against possible future changes violating some assumption.