On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 6:18 PM, Giles Bowkett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi - I've got a bunch of people using specs at a company. Everybody is > writing specs, but people are not really practicing BDD. As in, the > specs are there, but it doesn't go, write spec, write code, repeat. I > recently came across 8 failing specs checked into svn; I think the > plan was, I'll write the design as specs, and then implement the > entire design to match. Obviously that's not really the way it should > be.
Here's my theory. Ranked, in ascending order of desirability: No tests Green suite, poor tests Red suite, poor tests Red suite, quality tests Green suite, quality tests A passing suite of high-quality tests gives you confidence that your system works well. If your tests are of low quality, then you will be confident, but your confidence will be misguided, and so you disrupt the balance of what the team knows vs what the team thinks it knows. The team has good values but does not understand the principles. A broken suite of low-quality tests sounds discouraging, but I believe it is a positive situation, because the team's understanding of the values and principles can grow at the same rate, rather than one dominating the other like a weed. Some teams and team members will be cynical, some will be eager but struggle. Most importantly though, they will be realistic. A broken suite of high-quality tests signifies a breakdown in process. Unlike before, the problem at this stage is no longer a matter of growth and understanding within the developers, it is managerial or political. They may be under tight deadlines and so have to let practices slip slightly, urged on by misinformed project managers. Removing political obstacles is difficult and requires skill in itself, but I think it's a tedious work compared to the personal growth that developers must experience. Willfully choosing not to write tests means you are stupid. Pat _______________________________________________ rspec-users mailing list rspec-users@rubyforge.org http://rubyforge.org/mailman/listinfo/rspec-users
