Confession: I am somewhat of a tester

I can’t deny it. After only minutes of writing real code I long for the snug comfort of well written behavioural specifications (also known as tests).

Writing specifications first

Any yes, to really get your coder level up, you will need to write specifications before you write the code. This sounds terribly hard and at first it is.

Why is it hard? Because you need to know what you are going to write before you do. But that’s another blog post there.

Frequently seen stereotypes (FSS)

A few stereotypes and my answers:

But .. some things can’t be tested

No. You are not asking the right question. It’s not: “can it be tested automatically?”, its “how much does it cost?”, weighted against the benefit of having tests. That discussion tends to be sharper around the edges.

Also, you might want to consider stubbing and mocking, two – no, really just one – essential tool(s) in any developers toolbox. Then you should look at mockingobjects.com and a few other sites and practice daily.

To be fair: Some things can be pretty hard to test. Be stubborn. If you can show how it pays off to have a test, you can test it. Take a look at the consumer product industry: A simple childs toy is tested more thoroughly than the average piece of code. If all else fails, use a robotic arm that pounds your keyboard like a wild monkey, looking for wear and inflammability.

Its all just a waste of time, I can write my code just right

That probably used to be the case. Or even is the case. It’s just .. I hear this a lot from people who mostly work alone. And on small(ish) projects.

Working in teams is another thing altogether. You will not be able to keep all details in your mind like you used to. Plus, people break stuff. Mostly by making something else better. You need something to tie these forces together, making them visible.

Oh and… if you still think you can write code without tests just fine – go and ask the next guy how much time he spends reading your code before he can modify it. That is: modify it and still be sure that nothing breaks.