174: pseudo-TDD - Paul Ganssle

In this episode, I talk with Paul Ganssle about a fun workflow that he calls pseudo-TDD.
 Pseudo-TDD is a way to keep your commit history clean and your tests passing with each commit.
 This workflow includes using pytest xfail and some semi-advanced version control features.

Some strict forms of TDD include something like this:

• write a failing test that demonstrates a lacking feature or defect
• write the source code to get the test to pass
• refactor if necessary
• repeat

In reality, at least for me, the software development process is way more messy than this, and not so smooth and linear.

Pauls workflow allow you to develop non-linearly, but commit cleanly.

Links:

• A pseudo-TDD workflow using expected failures
• episode 171: How and why I use pytest's xfail - Paul Ganssle
• episode 165: pytest xfail policy and workflow
• episode 162: Flavors of TDD