Part 1. A TDD primer

Part 1 is a test-driven development (TDD) primer, giving you a kick start in the art of test driving. In chapter 1, you’ll learn about both TDD and its big brother, acceptance TDD, from the very basics, getting an overview of both techniques. Chapter 2 takes you deeper into the test-first realm through a hands-on tutorial that you can follow on your computer, editing and running actual code as we go along. Chapter 3 continues on this path, developing the hands-on example further by throwing in a larger-scale refactoring that introduces significant changes to our design.

While teaching TDD to dozens and dozens of programmers over the years, I’ve learned that practice is a better teacher than I am. By the time you’ve implemented a fully capable template engine through chapters 2 and 3, you’ll be ready to add some heavily guarded trade secrets to your toolbox. Chapter 4 expands our idea of TDD with a number of tips and tricks, from selecting the next test to different ways of making it pass. Design guidelines and testing tools will get the coverage they deserve, too.