Dev and Test, Sitting in a Tree: K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
WhatsApp

When I was a kid cars didn’t have seat belts in the back seat. We used to fly to and fro all over whenever the car took a turn. These days my kids shriek with horror if we forget to buckle them up and the car starts moving. That’s the mindset.

Some time ago I led a code retreat event. In the first session, I asked the teams to try and build a simulation of Conways’ Game of Life. Immediately they started coding the simulation.

That was odd.

You see, I usually don’t write any code before I have a test ready to run it. What’s the point? I like it when one key press runs all the tests. It makes me feel safe. It’s the same as when I’m getting into my car I wear the seat belt.

When the people at the session were done with coding, they wanted to see if it works. So they wrote a short main and started debugging.

“They wanted to see if it works.” I’m familiar with this. I also used to write code and then just wanted to make sure it works. These days I have a concrete objective in front of me: a test that should pass.

When I started TDDing (Test Driven Dedign/Development) it was strange. I wanted to write code and I felt messing around with the tests was a waste of time. But as I did more and more of it something changed. It made me feel safe.

On the second session of the aforementioned Code Retreat I asked the people to do the same exercise, but this time the test first. They didn’t understand. So I showed them: I take a blank project and write a test. I start with the assert statement. I use in the assert a Class that I still don’t have and also probably a Method that I don’t have. Then I write the code in the test that comes before it. Then I use the IDE to generate the missing classes and methods. Enlightenment!

In the same way that you don’t build a house without scaffolding, you don’t write code without tests. When you start with the tests, you write code that is more testable. When you build a car, you build it so you could have a proper place to anchor the seat belt. It comes together.

(And it works as well with Legacy code. Read Michael Feather’s Working Effectively with Legacy Code. We will also write about it here.)

It is true for a single developer doing unit tests and it is true for QA people running System Tests: Testing and Development comes together.

Dev and Test
sitting in a tree,
K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
First comes learning,
then comes practice
then comes software in a baby carriage… 
:-O

Subscribe for Email Updates:

Categories:

Tags:

PI Planning
Agile Development
Presentation
Portfolio for Jira
Advanced Roadmaps
Story Slicing
Process Improvement
Kanban Game
RTE
WIP
Scrum and XP
Jira Plans
Scaled Agile Framework
TDD
An Appreciative Retrospective
Jira admin
Scrum Master Role
Implementation of Lean and Agile
SPC
Pomodoro Technique
Lean Agile Management
Planning
RTE Role
Agile in the Enterprise
Lean Budgeting
Agile Techniques
Certified SAFe
Covid19
Principles of Lean-Agile Leadership
Code
Product Management
Lean and Agile Principles and Practices
Continuous Improvement
Jira Cloud
LPM
Agile Community
Reading List
Daily Scrum
Agile Mindset
Agile for Embedded Systems
Managing Projects
Agile Testing Practices
The Agile Coach
Introduction to Test Driven Development
Scrum
Kaizen Workshop
Releases Using Lean
Lean Agile
Nexus and SAFe
QA
Scrum Master
Software Development
Tools
Professional Scrum with Kanban
ATDD
Lean Startup
Video
Change Management
Frameworks
System Archetypes
Tips
Kanban Kickstart Example
Scrum Values
Sprint Iteration
Release Train Engineer
Built-In Quality
Managing Risk on Agile Projects
Agile Program
Atlassian
Product Ownership
SAFe
Test Driven Development
Acceptance Test-Driven Development
Sprint Retrospectives
Continuous Deployment
Large Scale Scrum
Professional Scrum Product Owner
Lean-Agile Software Development
ARTs
Legacy Code
Jira
Scrum With Kanban
Manage Budget Creation
Continuous Integration
PI Objectives
System Integration Environments
Hybrid Work
Lean and Agile Techniques
Accelerate Value Delivery At Scale
Sprint Planning
Continuous Planning
AI
Quality Assurance
Games and Exercises
Scrum.org
IT Operations
Achieve Business Agility
SA
Kanban 101
Lean Agile Basics
Agile Outsourcing
Program Increment
ALM Tools
Agile Assembly Architecture
Agile Contracts Best Practices
Atlaassian
Agile Games and Exercises
Business Agility
Agile Marketing
Risk-aware Product Development
Nexus and Kanban
Agile and DevOps Journey
Agile Delivery
BDD
Risk Management in Kanban
Agile Basics
Agile Project
lean agile change management
NIT
Agile Release Planning
Nexus
Lean Risk Management
RSA
Slides
Perfection Game
Agile India
Webinar
Agile Product Ownership
Entrepreneurial Operating System®
Development Value Streams
Scrum Primer
predictability
ATDD vs. BDD
speed @ scale
Rapid RTC
Iterative Incremental Development
Value Streams
ART Success
Applying Agile Methodology
A Kanban System for Software Engineering
Kanban
Lean Agile Organization
Certification
System Team
Agile Exercises
LAB
ROI
Risk Management on Agile Projects
Elastic Leadership
AI Artificial Intelligence
Continuous Delivery
Software Development Estimation
Lean Agile Leadership
EOS®
speed at scale
Engineering Practices
Agile Release Management
Nexus Integration Team
Operational Value Stream
Lean-Agile Budgeting
LeSS
Lean Software Development
Kaizen
POPM
GanttBan
Effective Agile Retrospectives
Agile Risk Management
Enterprise DevOps
ScrumMaster Tales
Scrum Guide
Agile
Implementing SAFe
agileisrael
SAFe Release Planning
The Kanban Method
AgileSparks
Spotify
What Is Kanban
Agile Project Management
Kanban Basics
Limiting Work in Progress
SAFe DevOps
Coaching Agile Teams
Agile Israel Events
Systems Thinking
Agile Israel
DevOps
Agile Product Development
Agile Games
Introduction to ATDD
Legacy Enterprise
Nexus vs SAFe
Self-organization
Agility
Professional Scrum Master
Artificial Intelligence
AgileSparks
Logo
Enable registration in settings - general

Contact Us

Request for additional information and prices

AgileSparks Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter, and stay updated on the latest Agile news and events

This website uses Cookies to provide a better experience
Shopping cart