TA versus TDD

When discussing TDD in more detail, it will become clear that TDD is highly dependent on test automation and will lead to comprehensive test collateral that covers the verification of your application code. As such it's a means to get both your test automation and application code in place. Or turning it around: test automation is part of the goal of TDD. But, as you will see below, TDD is more than that: it's a programming technique or, if that describes it better for you, another tool to shape your development practice. TDD and test automation do relate, but:

Then you might wonder if TDD is the only way to get test automation in place and my short answer would be: "No," immediately followed by "but it might make a lot of sense to use it." Read on!