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by jfim 4837 days ago
I think the problem mostly spans from the "do the simplest thing that could possibly work"[1] methodology that some practitioners of TDD advocate over thinking about the problem and solving it properly.

[1]http://c2.com/xp/DoTheSimplestThingThatCouldPossiblyWork.htm...

1 comments

The problem isn't the advice, it's the misunderstanding of that advice. Thinking about a problem should happen, and when you sit down to code, you should already know what needs to happen. TDD doesn't propose to replace planning and thought.
Fair enough, I do admit my experiences with TDD are pretty much limited to writing the game of life several times at a code retreat where thinking too much ahead of time was somewhat verboten and talking with TDD practitioners that suggest the best solution to solving a problem is to write some tests, then take some "baby steps" until the problem is solved. I always get the impression it seems to lead into a somewhat absurd situation, such as the one described in [1].

What do you think would be a good reference with regards to TDD practices, as opposed to "I saw some people do it and it looked seriously wrong?"

[1] http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/109990/how-ba...