Test Driven Development: Advancing Knowledge by Conjecture and Confirmation

David Parsons, Ramesh Lal and Manfred Lange
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David Parsons: Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, Albany Campus, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904 North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Ramesh Lal: Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, Albany Campus, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904 North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
Manfred Lange: Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, Albany Campus, Massey University, Private Bag 102-904 North Shore Mail Centre, Auckland, New Zealand

Future Internet, 2011, vol. 3, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Test Driven Development (TDD) is a critical agile software development practice that supports innovation in short development cycles. However, TDD is one of the most challenging agile practices to adopt because it requires changes to work practices and skill sets. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of TDD through the experiences of those who have successfully adopted this practice. We collaborated with an agile team to provide this experience report on their adoption of TDD, using observations and interviews within the product development environment. This article highlights a number of practices that underlie successful development with TDD. To provide a theoretical perspective that can help to explain how TDD supports a positive philosophy of software development, we have revised Northover et al .’s conceptual framework, which is based on a four stage model of agile development, to reinterpret Popper’s theory of conjecture and falsification in the context of agile testing strategies. As a result of our findings, we propose an analytical model for TDD in agile software development which provides a theoretical basis for further investigations into the role of TDD and related practices.

Keywords: test driven development; agile methods; testing strategies; pair programming; design patterns; software architecture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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