Software People Inspiring

Don't Want to TDD? Don't TDD. Just Be Honest About Your Reasons

A growing body of evidence strongly suggests that Test-Driven Development produces code that is - on average - more reliable (less bugs per KLOC) and more maintainable (simpler, less duplication, more modular, and far faster and cheaper to re-test). And it can do this with little or no extra effort.

Hooray for our side!

But, of course, I'm always at pains to be clear that TDD is not compulsory. If you don't want to do it, then don't do it.

But if not TDD, then what else are you doing to ensure your code is reliable and maintainable? Perhaps you're writing automated tests after you've written the code, for example. Perhaps you're writing assertions inside the code and using a tool like QuickCheck to drive test cases. Perhaps you're doing Design by Contract. Perhaps you're using a model checker. What matters is the end result. TDD is optional.

You'll have to forgive my skepticism when people tell me they choose not to do TDD, though. Usually - it transpires upon seeing the resulting software - what they really mean is "we choose not to write reliable and maintainable code" and "we choose not to worry about the release after this one." The world is full of legacy production code that wasn't intended to last, much of it decades old.

So, by all means, do it some other way if that's what floats your boat. But be honest with yourself about your reasons. Eventually, whatever your stated justification, your code will tell the real story.

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