Test-Driven Development
A development practice where tests are written before production code.
Also: TDD
Definition
Test-Driven Development (TDD) is a software development methodology where developers write failing tests before writing any production code, then write the minimum code needed to make tests pass, and finally refactor. This red-green-refactor cycle ensures comprehensive test coverage, drives modular design through the need for testable code, and provides a safety net for refactoring. TDD produces living documentation and reduces debugging time by catching regressions immediately when code changes.
Example
“A developer writes a failing test asserting that calculateDiscount(100, 0.1) returns 90, then implements the function until the test passes, then refactors for clarity before writing the API endpoint that calls it.”
Synonyms
- test-first development
- red-green-refactor
- test-driven design
Antonyms / Opposites
- code-first development
- untested code
- no unit tests
Images
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Related Terms
- unit-testing
- solid-principles
- dependency-injection
- cicd