http://lizkeogh.com/2012/06/24/beyond-test-driven-development/
blog-post-beyond-tdd#j-b-rainsberger-quote-from-comments1 2 3 "Practicing TDD encouraged me to do things in a certain sequence and style: write only a few lines at a time, get a simple example working by hardcoding some data, remove duplication mercilessly. I now do those things whether I test-drive my code or don't. Even so, I tend to prefer to test-drive, most of the time.
I used to stop myself from writing code without test-driving it. I no longer do. As with Liz, with Bob, with others, that comes from my myriad-plus-hours of practice.
I have taught people the first rule in Liz's bullet list for years: when in doubt, write the test. I call this a Novice Rule (Dreyfus Model) and teach it that way: "The Novice Rule is 'if you're not sure, then write the test; you need the practice.'"
blog-post-beyond-tdd#j-b-rainsberger-quote-from-comments1 2 3
Related:
"The interesting thing is there are a number of things that work. Design by Contract works. Test Driven Development works. So do Clean Room, code inspections and the use of higher-level languages. All of these techniques have been shown to increase quality. And, if we look closely we can see why: all of them force us to reflect on our code."
I say don't look ahead more than ten minutes, and maybe that's an exaggeration, maybe it's an hour. I do have experience with the types of problems I solve that allow me to avoid traps. That's what you have to be careful about.
Jessica: It's very easy for us to talk about don't look ahead more than ten minutes when the fact is by virtue of our previous experience, we are already seeing months into the future without even thinking about it.