TDD - is it worth it? by Phil Nash

This is the introduction of a very good blog post written by my very good friend Phil Nash. Please click on the link at the bottom for the full post.

There are many articles on the subject of what TDD is, why and when it is worth it, and which attempt to counter common objections.

This is not one of those.
Well. Maybe a bit.

This is more specifically a response to Marco Arment's comments in his podcast, Build & Analyze, episodes 107 and 108. Episode 108 was the last episode so there is an air of finality to the subject matter. Many Mac and iOS developers (as well as developers for other platforms) listen to the show and, while you'd hope they can all think for themselves and reach their own conclusions, it's undeniable that opinions, if not already well formed, may easily be swayed by what a respected figure says in a high profile, and well polished, medium. This can be unfortunate. I'm sure Marco didn't intend to do any damage. I've listened to every episode of Build & Analyze for over a year and enjoyed it. This is certainly not a flame against Marco or the show. However I'm going to walk through Marco's comments as a proxy for many who make similar statements. In doing so I quote him liberally, rearranging to fit my narrative. I'm including the time markers so you can easily listen to it in the original context.

Read more.

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