TDD Pro-Tip: Against Automated Macrotests

TDD, Programming, How I Work, Coding / October 4, 2022 / 9 minutes of reading

TDD Pro-Tip: I advocate against automated macro-tests — those whose base is entire running programs –, as their cost is high and their benefit is doubtful. I very rarely write them. There is a bewildering variety of terminology out there around what I’m calling macro-tests, so let’s poke around a little. The central idea of "macro-test" is that we write code that launches an entire subject program and probes its behavior "from the outside". There are often multiple programs in …

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Some TDD History

TDD / September 30, 2022 / 7 minutes of reading

I spoze the historic and ongoing inability/unwillingness of the software trade to grasp and adopt test-driven development (TDD) is one of the most frustrating & demoralizing events of my forty-two years as a professional geek. I believe there are several related factors in play, ranging in abstraction level from pressures of global ieconmics to mistakes in local human interaction. Studying this large-scale failure, even while having some small-scale successes, underlies much of my work on change. Because, while the overall …

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On Over-Coding

TDD, Programming, How I Work, Coding / October 19, 2022 / 4 minutes of reading

Let’s talk for a minute about "over-coding". Over-coding, when you’re a TDD’ist, is writing more code than you (intended to) have test to cover. But I will offer a few thoughts on this to non TDD’ers and TDD’ers alike. Many people, pro-TDD and con- both, seem to think of TDD as the name for a collection or rigorous mechanical rules. TDD is a kind of jack-in-the-box, where you sit there and turn the handle, circle circle circle, and out pops …

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Robot Worlds E05: A Making UI!

Robot Worlds, WeThinkCode / July 12, 2022 / 1 minute of reading
This entry is part 5 of 5 in the series Robot Worlds

A Making UI We’ve got a very crude skeleton running, let’s get it on the screen, inside a "making app"! If you want to follow along, the repo is at https://github.com/GeePawHill/robot-worlds. Transcript and captions coming soon . . .

Ten I-Statements About Change

Coaching, Change Harvesting / January 2, 2023 / 6 minutes of reading
This entry is part 1 of 5 in the series Leading Technical Change

Here’s ten I-Statements about change, in the geek trades, and beyond. My hope is that it will give you a richer sense of where I’m coming from in my blogs, talks, videos, and courses. Before we begin, though these statements are about the geek trades, I am actually far more concerned with change in the world. We can change this. We’re the only thing that possibly can. Stay safe, stay strong, stay angry, stay kind. Black Lives Matter. A little …

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Trade Collapse Begins?

Change Harvesting / June 16, 2022 / 3 minutes of reading

I’ve oft mentioned how the twin cost-revolutions in geekery warped & nearly destroyed our trade. Then wondered if we’ll get to a place where it’s no longer profitable for most companies to write bad software poorly. This morning I wonder if I’m seeing the beginning of it. I don’t have any facts & figures for you. But it feels like I’m seeing more and more companies wonder if the gravy train’s caboose will soon pass the station. It won’t happen …

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Robot Worlds E04: Yes, Commander!

Robot Worlds / May 23, 2022 / 1 minute of reading
This entry is part 4 of 5 in the series Robot Worlds

Robot Worlds: End-to-End-ish Time to flesh out at least one of those ends we got from last time! If you want to follow along, the repo is at https://github.com/GeePawHill/robot-worlds. Transcript and captions coming soon . . .

On Not Knowing

Programming / May 18, 2022 / 4 minutes of reading

When I was a wee lad, 28, 29, 30, I knew the C Windows API by heart. I had, in my bathroom, both the technical docs and a copy of Petzold, and I knew it cold, stone cold. Every one of the ~500 calls, all of the arguments, and for most of them, the order of the arguments. I was a good programmer because I was a terrific memorist: I could learn things by heart, and I could organize them …

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Robot Worlds E03: End-to-End-ish

Uncategorized, WeThinkCode, Robot Worlds / April 28, 2022 / 1 minute of reading
This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series Robot Worlds

Robot Worlds: End-to-End-ish Let’s get ourselves a first crude end-to-end test running. If you want to follow along, the repo is at https://github.com/GeePawHill/robot-worlds. Transcript and captions coming soon . . .

Robot Worlds E02: Sockets & A Spike

Uncategorized, WeThinkCode, Robot Worlds / April 5, 2022 / 1 minute of reading
This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Robot Worlds

Robot Worlds: Sockets & A Spike In this round, we get to some code, but it’s "special" code, because it’s in a spike. What’s a spike? Watch and see! If you want to follow along, the repo is at https://github.com/GeePawHill/robot-worlds. Transcript and captions coming soon . . .