This presentation looks at the chasm-crossing potential of Test-Driven Development (TDD) and some related technologies. The aim is that you will still be able to get a good software development job in 2024.
Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a software development approach where tests are written before the code is created. Software developers first create automated test cases that define the desired behavior of a feature, then write the minimum code necessary to pass those tests. Then, you refactor the code while keeping all tests green.
Geoffrey Moores’s book “Crossing the chasm” outlines the difficulties faced by a new, disruptive technology like TDD, when adoption moves from innovators and visionaries into the mainstream. Test Driven Development is clearly a disruptive technology, that changes the way you approach software design and testing. It has not yet been embraced by everyone, but is it just a matter of time? Ten years from now, will a non-TDD practicing developer experience the horror of being labeled a technology adoption ‘laggard’, and be left working exclusively on dreadfully boring legacy systems?
It could be a smart move to get down to your nearest Coding Dojo and practice TDD on some Code Katas. On the other hand, the thing with disruptive technologies is that even they can become disrupted when something better comes along. What about Property-Based Testing? Approval Testing? Outside-In Development?
Video producer: http://www.europython.eu/