Today a small team of three had a post-iteration meeting, and for the first time within the company (I dare say), there was agreement about the benefits of BDD/TDD when automated tests are required. The team agreed that it takes significantly longer to retrofit automated tests than it does to do the coding and testing in a BDD/TDD fashion.
The main reason is because when BDD/TDD practices are followed, the code is designed cleanly from the start and it tends to naturally follow best practices. When tests were retrofitted, the code typically has to be refactored/restructured and sometimes even completely rewritten so that the test cases can be properly identified and then written.
This is a hard-earned and yet relatively small victory, and after a long amount of time, suffering and battling, I’m telling everyone who’ll listen!
One step closer… critical mass… you are now in my sights!
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