It is 2010. I declare that #TDD is no longer controversial.
We all know the
Gartner Hype Cycle for technology adaption:
Sometimes I wonder where on this curve we are concerning unit-testing and
Test Driven Development (TDD)?
Just recently there seem to be a movement to the "Through of Disillusionment" with several fairly well grounded articles
questioning the value of unit-testing and
Test Driven Development (TDD):
Problems with TDD an Essay by Andrew Dalke. Heavily discussed on his blog and on Hacker News.
Chris Ashton's post: It's OK Not to Write Unit Tests
Ayende's posts: Even tests has got to justify themselves and re: Are you smart enough to do without TDD
And finally Luce Francis brilliant presentation: Testing is Overrated (matching blog post, slides)
On the other hand there seems to be
prove that TDD is valuable:
Empirical Studies Show Test Driven Development Improves Quality
Maximilien-Williams study
Uncle Bobs TDD Triage
The Garner Hype Cycle starts with a technology which was accepted, then looks back at the history of acceptance. Because it presumes final success, it can't be used as a way to predict future success given a position on the curve.
ReplyDeleteFor example, where would CORBA fit on that line? It had the hump then drop, and it still exists, but D-BUS has replaced it for the most part. Or going back in time, Taligent or BeOS.