Tuesday Afternoon, Half Day
No Stone Unturned: An Introduction to Test-First Programming
Convention Ctr — Room 3
Steve Freeman, Big Blue Steel Tiger

Writing effective unit tests is a skill that takes practice to do well but is at the core of Extreme Programming. During this tutorial we will demonstrate real examples that address situations many programmers find hard to test. We will also show how test-driven development improves the quality of the code produced. Finally, we will consider the practical boundaries of effective unit testing. This tutorial will improve attendees’ understanding of how to write meaningful and effective unit tests, demonstrate live, test-driven development and pair-programming, and cover topics that many people find difficult when writing unit tests.

Attendee Background: The session is intended for working programmers who are interested in writing effective unit tests. They should be familiar with Java and, preferably, standard libraries such as JDBC and servlets. The tutorial has a bias towards web development, but the techniques it covers are applicable elsewhere.

Presenter: Steve Freeman is a Principal Consultant at Big Blue Steel Tiger, where he develops e-commerce solutions and is also responsible for helping to move Big Blue Steel Tiger towards extreme Programming. Prior to this, he ran the largest XP project in the UK at Lombard Risk Systems. He has degrees in Statistics and Music, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Cambridge University and has written software for research labs, shrink-wrap and bespoke systems.

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