As a Web app grows more complex, it gets easier and easier to introduce bugs. Building up a suite of automated tests from the beginning helps you refactor with confidence, and catch regressions more quickly. But committing to test-driven development can be daunting: How do you know what tests to write? Is it worth the time you’ll put into building the test suite?
If you’re a regular reader of our blog, you’ve probably noticed that here at thoughtbot we’re big advocates of test-driven development. It relies on the repetition of a very short development cycle—the reassuring rhythm of red, green, refactor—as you proceed from feature test to unit test, guided by the tests to make useful design decisions along the way. We’ve got pretty good at it over the years, and it’s a staple of the quality code we’re known for.
That’s why we’re so excited about our partnership with Codecademy to build a brand new TDD course: Codecademy’s Test-Driven Development Pro Intensive.
If you’re familiar with Codecademy, you know that they do a great job of teaching development tools and techniques. With interactive lessons, freeform projects, and quizzes to test and reinforce your understanding along the way, you’re sure to quickly digest the material and start applying it to your day to day work.
Combining thoughtbot’s test-driven development expertise with Codecademy’s skill with curriculum design and JavaScript has resulted in a comprehensive foundational course we’re quite proud of. We can’t wait for you to check it out and let us know what you think.
You can find the new course over on codecademy.com.