"I have a mind like a steel... uh... thingy." Patrick Logan's weblog.

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Thursday, January 22, 2004

Leave one test failing

One thing that Kent Beck mentioned in Test Driven Development was that if he's not finished test-driving a chunk of code, but has to leave it for a while, he'll leave one test failing. When he gets back to pick up where he left off, he runs the tests, sees the failing one, and by making that test pass, gets back into the mindset needed for that design problem.

I do this all the time. This is especially handy when you are programming at home and are susceptible to frequent family interruptions. It's also handy when you are done for the day. When you come back in the morning, the test is there ready to tell you exactly where you left off.

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About Me

Portland, Oregon, United States
I'm usually writing from my favorite location on the planet, the pacific northwest of the u.s. I write for myself only and unless otherwise specified my posts here should not be taken as representing an official position of my employer. Contact me at my gee mail account, username patrickdlogan.