TDD – its place in the bigger quality picture
In this section, we will take a critical look at what TDD has brought to the testing table, and what remains human activities. While TDD undoubtedly has advantages as part of a test strategy, it can never be the entire strategy for a successful software system.
Understanding the limits of TDD
TDD is a relatively recent discipline as far as mainstream development goes. The modern genesis of TDD lies with Kent Beck in the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System (see the Further reading section, where the idea of test-first unit testing came from). The project began in 1993 and Kent Beck’s involvement commenced in 1996.
The Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation project was characterized by extensive use of unit tests driving small iterations and frequent releases of code. Hopefully, we recognize those ideas from the preceding chapters in this book. Much has changed since then – the deployment options are different...
