Treat yourself - A tale about dog training and test-driven development

What can dog training teach us about writing software? Discover how positive reinforcement and TDD create a powerful feedback loop that leads to cleaner, more reliable code.

#1about 3 minutes

Connecting dog training principles to software testing

The speaker's background as a dog trainer provides a unique perspective on the principles behind test-driven development.

#2about 6 minutes

Applying positive reinforcement and small steps in training

Effective dog training focuses on reinforcing desired behaviors in small, achievable steps, similar to writing user stories and iterating.

#3about 3 minutes

Understanding the red-green-refactor cycle of TDD

TDD is a programmer-driven technique that follows a red-green-refactor cycle, writing a failing test before writing any implementation code.

#4about 4 minutes

How TDD builds a strong foundation of unit tests

TDD primarily generates fast and reliable unit tests, forming the stable base of the testing pyramid essential for agile development.

#5about 6 minutes

Building a dog training simulator with TDD

A practical coding example begins by writing the first failing tests to initialize a `Dog` class and assign it a name in JavaScript.

#6about 7 minutes

Using TDD to implement logic and catch bugs early

The TDD cycle helps catch a logical bug early when implementing rewards, demonstrating its value in preventing errors from reaching users.

#7about 4 minutes

Refactoring implementation and test code with confidence

With a suite of passing tests in place, the implementation and test code can be safely refactored to be more maintainable and less repetitive.

#8about 6 minutes

Simulating the learning process with a counter

A counter is added to track rewarded behaviors, allowing the dog to "learn" a command after a set number of successful repetitions.

#9about 4 minutes

Adopting TDD as a design tool, not just a testing method

TDD should be viewed as a code design strategy that promotes focus and clean architecture, but it's important to apply it pragmatically rather than dogmatically.