Forget Test Driven Development. Focus on FIRST instead!

Topic:

Agile Teams are frequently encouraged to adopt Test Driven Development (TDD), yet the mental shift required, especially for those unaccustomed to writing unit tests, poses a significant challenge. This talk proposes a strategic shift towards focusing on good unit testing practices, guided by the FIRST principles. By prioritizing quality unit tests, teams can prevent regressions and deliver higher-quality products.

I. Why is TDD hard?

• Discuss the challenges faced by teams in adopting Test Driven Development.
• Highlight the mental barriers and misconceptions hindering TDD adoption.
• Emphasize the need for an alternative approach to ease the transition.

II. Why we should focus on good unit tests

• Present the research-backed argument that bad unit tests are nearly as detrimental as having none.
• Stress the importance of unit tests beyond code coverage metrics.
• Illustrate how good unit tests contribute to preventing regressions and ensuring a high-quality product.

III. Strategies for adopting FIRST principles in unit testing

• Introduce the FIRST principles (Fast, Isolated, Repeatable, Self-validating, and Timely).
• Provide practical strategies for incorporating these principles into unit testing practices.
• Share real-world examples to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategies.

By the end of the talk, attendees should:
– Understand the challenges associated with TDD adoption.
– Recognize the importance of good unit tests beyond mere code coverage.
– Be equipped with practical strategies for implementing the FIRST principles in their day-to-day development activities.

Speaker:

George Lively is LitheSpeeds VP of Emerging Technologies. George has two decades of experience in Agile Software Development, concentrating heavily on Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum, SAFe, TDD, CI/CD, and DevOps. He has managed, mentored, coached, and trained Agile teams, serving in many capacities such as TechnicalLead, Scrum Master, Agile Coach & Trainer with a focus on developing people and improving how teams work together using agile methods to achieve desired results. As a software craftsman and adept practitioner of agile development practices, George has helped organizations and teams realize business value quickly and with high quality, and a high degree of customer satisfaction.