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by jasonhansel 1340 days ago
He's not discouraging automated testing; he's just saying that we should prefer integration tests (using services running locally) to unit tests of individual functions. Look up "testing trophy" for more about this philosophy.
1 comments
recroad 1340 days ago
Totally with you on the value of integration tests. I'm familiar with the trophy and the triangle, but he's saying this:

'..with unit tests notably coming in last place – i.e. “only if you have some time”.'

The "only if you have time" part is what I disagree with. If we're doing TDD then I don't see how you can avoid writing unit tests, or even deprioritize them.

It's also kind of weird to separate them like that, as Fowler discussed here: https://martinfowler.com/articles/2021-test-shapes.html

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pgwhalen 1340 days ago
> The "only if you have time" part is what I disagree with. If we're doing TDD then I don't see how you can avoid writing unit tests, or even deprioritize them.

Perhaps the author doesn't recommend TDD? They don't suggest anywhere that they do. It seems to me that the industry these days sees TDD as a tool for occasional use, not the dogma once proposed.

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