Experience the Beauty of TDD
Beauty is in the eye and the heart of the beholder. An outside observer would likely find Diderotâs renovated office to have been a vast improvement over its scruffy, untidy predecessor. However, Diderot was unhappy with the end result, and wrote âRegrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gownâ[72] because he was financially and emotionally drained from the unexpected domino effect of change triggered by his new red robe.
The Diderot Effect theory comes from studies of consumer behavior and upward mobility. It serves as a warning about the unintended consequences of upgrading one item in isolation. Let this chapter be a similar warning for teams deciding to embrace TDD: this decision involves much more than simply selecting an automated test tool. The team must be committed to supporting significant changes within each and every role, and must be willing to let go of their comfortable old ways:
Requirement specifications look different and require more discipline than ever before. The reward is an unprecedented level of specification trustworthiness.
All levels of system design and the act of writing code are directly influenced by the TDD practice.
The pace of work is regulated by the iteration length and the red-green-refactor cycle.
A new breed of powerful tools support and facilitate cross-functional, cooperative work.
Role collaborations form a richer and more interconnected network. In particular, the tester role is engaged earlier, and the testerâs ...
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