[plinkplonk]

In all discussions about TDD, it is important to distinguish between having having an automated test suite for your code which is run frequently, and writing your code test first - which is what TDD is, by definition.

It is possible to advocate for the former, while thinking the latter is consultantware snake oil. (my position, fwiw)

[lobut]

Yeah, I agree. TDD is also, you cannot write a single line of code without writing a failing unit test though. Well, I'm not a fan of that either.

I mean, sometimes I like writing an acceptance test to begin with and work inwards.

People sometimes interchangeably use "TDD" for "testing". Also, just because you do TDD, doesn't mean your code can be great, I've seen people assert pointless things and the unit has gotten so small that people now define them as methods in classes. Which I also think can lead to some crazy maintenance suite of tests.

If you're interested, this was a fun discussion about TDD between two professionals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtHQGs3zFAM Jim Coplien and Uncle Bob.