Re:Is unit testing doomed?
by inventedchip on Monday August 11, 2008 @04:51PM
(#273310)
I would not say so (and the article itself presents several compelling arguments) - developers & management just need to change their attitude a bit. Getting defensive about one's code is as old as "hello world" itself and once that is brought under control and the developer starts seeing the code as a "user" would - good unit test plans usually result. The benefits of unit-testing are easy to understand but difficult to quantify which is why management in its TTM focus tends to overlook it - you need a believer in the ranks to champion that cause. Fortunately there are plenty of those around so the questions / calls are a little premature.
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you need a believer in the ranks to champion that cause
Nah, you need an entire project that is demonstrably better executed than another and that attributes its success to unit testing (or whatever). This is where evangelists fall down. They shouldn't preach until they've gotten something tangible to show.
demonstrably
Not gonna happen. There are too many variables to control, and it's impossible to run the same project twice, let alone repeatedly. People with opposing beliefs will never be convinced by such a "demonstration"; they will simply find some detail or other to justify what they already believe.
The empirical literature on software projects is downright feeble. Meanwhile the programming culture is very rich in anecdotes and folklore. I find that suggestive.
Yeah, it's funny, I mean say McDonalds their whole business hinges on how quickly they can cook burgers, but no-one there would ever consider under-cooking as a way to speed things up. So the average software project manager is not even as smart as the average burger flipper.