I’m excited to be travelling once again to the beautiful city of Porto, Portugal where I’ve been asked to give a Keynote at Agile Portugal on June 23rd, 2012.
The topic of my keynote will be Pragmatic, Not Dogmatic TDD: Rethinking How We Test. This talk will discuss why I believe that a more pragmatic, rather than dogmatic, approach to test-driven development will not only better enable developers to build the right things, but can also lead to higher quality code. Blindly following TDD practices can oftentimes focus primarily on the creation of unit tests that may or may not be of high value, at the expense of other coding and design practices. This can have the effect of limiting rather than driving development. Tests and knowing how to validate your system should definitely drive your development. But by being more “practical” about your testing, focusing more on what is important, you can end up with better results. Additionally, I will cover different testing rhythms and other practices that developers should consider as part of Pragmatic TDD. Go here for more information about Pragmatic TDD.
While at the conference, I have also been asked to participate in a Fishbowl Panel. During the panel, I will participate with Richard P. Gabriel and other conference speakers in a spirited debate about “Transitioning to Agile? Tips, Tricks, Traps, and Pitfalls.“ This should be a great trip, as I will catch up with old friends in Porto as well as make some new ones. I also look forward to the great scenery and seafood in Portugal.
