Adding a "Test-Driven Development" document

[glennj]

Forum thread http://forum.exercism.org/t/missing-tdd-document/14781

[BethanyG]

Nice work! 😄
Thank you for creating this - it is going to really help a lot of students and mentors.

[iHiD]

This is really great :) Thank you!

[kotp]

Looks good. Approving, but with one potential suggestion.

[kotp]

I wonder if we should mention not submitting the test files, as once that happens, they no longer (as far as I remember) get updated when updates happen, and become the responsibility of the student to ensure that they are in a state that works for them.

At least a warning to not submit modified the test files. I have helped several students over the years that have unknowningly submitted them (usually through globbing extensions when submitting, rather than purposefully and carefully) while some know better and do so with purpose.

[glennj]

I wonder if we should mention not submitting the test files

This is not the place for it. I don't think I even mention the CLI at all.

Here would be better: https://exercism.org/docs/using/solving-exercises/working-locally#h-submitting-your-solution

[tasxatzial]

Couple more comments:

1. There seems to be a clear distinction between working online and working locally. However, some tracks don't have skipped tests, so there's nothing to unskip. Should this be mentioned somewhere?

2. I can't find anywhere that TDD is the "recommended" way to solve the exercises. Should we make it clear? Many newcomers to this methodology might feel uneasy or dislike the approach, which could lead to them abandoning tracks, leaving the website, and having a negative experience overall.

[glennj]

some tracks don't have skipped tests, so there's nothing to unskip. Should this be mentioned somewhere?

What would you say about it? It may be more complicated than just "first comment-out all the tests and uncomment them one-by-one". I don't want to have to address the technicalities of several tracks.

I can't find anywhere that TDD is the "recommended" way to solve the exercises. Should we make it clear? Many newcomers to this methodology might feel uneasy or dislike the approach

Again, what would you say about it? I don't think we need to mandate anything, and I think this document suggests it's a good idea but does not preclude any other way. We have some exercises where "write just enough to pass the first test" is actually solving the whole exercise (I'm looking at you zebra puzzle).

[tasxatzial]

It may be more complicated than just "first comment-out all the tests and uncomment them one-by-one".

That should be enough. No need to say anything about individual tracks.

I don't think we need to mandate anything, and I think this document suggests it's a good idea but does not preclude any other way

Nothing at this point. I believe the recent changes should suffice :)

[tasxatzial]

approved with final suggestions

[glennj]

@BethanyG @iHiD @kotp @tasxatzial @ErikSchierboom @IsaacG
Is everyone still approving with the flurry of recent small changes?