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If
you've heard of Test
Driven Development (TDD)
before but was not sure
what it was or how it
works, this newsletter
provides a summary of
the approach.
What is Test
Driven Development?
Test
Driven Development is a
unique way to develop
software by starting the
process by collecting a
requirement, developing
test cases for the
requirement, followed by
the coding process.
For traditional
development and testing
shops, this process
"feels backwards"
because traditional
approaches perform the
coding before beginning
testing. However,
this approach has been
used for years by Agile
Development teams.
So how does it
Work?
For
TDD to work, create your
test cases using an
automated testing tool
and then write the code
that causes the
automated test(s) to
pass. So here are
the steps:
-
First fully
understand the
requirement
-
Create automated
test(s) that test
the requirement
-
Create the coding
logic -- test it by
running the
automated test(s)
-
Once the automated
test(s) pass, the
coding then fulfills
the requirement
-
Re-factor the code
for better
maintainability, run
the automated
test(s) again to
ensure it still
works
What are the
Advantages of TDD?
Studies have shown that
Test Driven Development
reduces defect density,
improves software
quality, and in some
cases make team
productivity higher.
Empirical
Software Engineering
Journal
published a paper that
summarized 4 cases
studies (1 at IBM, 3 at
Microsoft), where they
followed the TDD
practice and evaluated
the effectiveness of it.
For more information on
this study, visit
http://www.infoq.com/news/2009/03/TDD-Improves-Quality.
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