|
There is a curious symmetry to the way this book presents Acceptance Test-
Driven Development and the way software is developed with ATDD. Just as there
is an art to picking the specific examples of program behavior that will elicit the
correct general behavior for the system, there is an art to picking specific examples
of a programming technique like ATDD to give you, the reader, a chance to learn
the technique for yourself. Markus has done an admirable job in selecting and
presenting examples.
To read this book you will need to read code. If you follow along, you will
have the opportunity to learn the shift in thinking that is required to succeed with
ATDD. That shift is, in short, to quickly go from, ‘‘Here’s a feature I’d like,” to
‘‘How are we going to test that? Here’s an example.” Reading the examples, you
will see, over and over, what that transition looks like in various contexts.
What I like about this code-centric presentation is the trust it shows in your
powers of learning. This isn’t ‘‘12 Simple Rules for Testing Your Web App” printed
on intellectual tissue paper that falls apart at first contact with the moisture of
reality. Here you will read about concrete decisions made in concrete contexts,
decisions that you could (and that, if you want to get the most out of this book, you
will) disagree with, debate, and decide for yourself. |