Journey to TDD - Value Add of a Test

If you found this article and want to start at the beginning, this series starts here.

I spent days to replicate an action that would take a person minutes to perform.

What’s the value add for doing this?

It depends!

Short term, the value add is below zero, especially if there will be no more features added to the system.

The long term, it is a different story. As we add more features, tests to cover those features, AND run tests every time - the value add of this initial test is tremendous. This requires more changes to the culture of the organization than just “adding a test” - it changes workflows, tooling, and more trade offs.

So, will making this test add or remove value?

If you are willing to have larger conversations, yes - else, no.