[nthj]

I'm not a huge fan of TDD either. Tests are helpful when refactoring or adding new features because you avoid regressions. Regressions are the worst kinds of bugs because clients get really, really annoyed with "I thought we fixed this the last 3 times" and "we already paid to fix this" type scenarios.

That said, I think the article has a solid thesis. Just because you don't practice TDD doesn't that mean building things correctly won't help you ship working software faster. If your code is brittle, write some tests around it, refactor a bit, and keep running fast. We can debate over whether you should always write tests first or only write tests to cover brittle and important features, but that's a "how much" argument.

The real problem is when you run into methodologies that always involve work-arounds, and you let the technical debt continually pile up for weeks or months because "you're a startup." This will cause you to run very slowly, and sooner rather than later. I feel that's Uncle Bob's real point, and it's a valid one.