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Jesse Warden
Jesse Warden

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TDD Isn't About Testing, Despite Having Test in the Name

The "programmers can't name things" trope is real. TDD, or "TEST Driven Development", which has "test" in the name, is about design. But we don't call it "Design Driven Development" because those of us from front-end love our Designers, and just assume that is implied, and they direct us what to build. TDD's value isn't just design, it's testing that our code works, now, after a change, any time we deploy stuff, etc.

... that said, I love when Allen Holub rages, so reposting. That, and us TDD fans are horrible at describing, marketing, and implementing TDD, but we try anyway.

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Laurent Payot
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Jesse Warden

That's because it's difficult on top of writing code, which is difficult. Worse, a lot of the thought leaders think the majority of people are giving bad advice, and provide simple, aspirational "do this" which doesn't really give you a how too. That said, I still think it's worth it, at least on the back-end.