allan's blog - Agile, Lean, Patterns: Things to do to improve code quality

allan's blog - Agile, Lean, Patterns: Things to do to improve code quality

Test Driven Development: if there is one practice above all others which contributes to better code quality and fewer bugs it is TDD. On the plus side it can be used on any type of project, Agile, Waterfall or other. Its roots go back a long way but it was a forgotten practice until XP resurrected it. When run as part of a continuous integration cycle with frequent automated builds and tests the practice is Unit Testing on steroids.

However it doesn't just happen by mandating it so. Most developers don't know how to do it, they need training and help (coaching) to do it. Even then it is going to be a learning experience, don't expect it to become prevalent overnight.

(And before you say "But we have a legacy system with 1 million lines of code so it won't work for us" please read my implications of the power law.)

Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD) is the next level up from unit test based TDD. Here those making the requests for development not only specify their acceptance criteria but do so before any development happens, and do so in a way that they can be automatically executed. In many cases professional Testers need to work with the "Customers" to create such tests.

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