Recently seen on a list (with a nasty archival system that I don't want to link to):

"Don't write a test plan. Instead, test."

             -- Bret Pettichord

Need I say more?

Probably.

One of the most important tenets of agility (<-- little 'a' ;), in my opinion, is to not overthink. Unless you're an exceptional, intelligent, and experienced person -- or else just plain lucky -- you're unlikely to presage the specific problems you're going to encounter in a new project. This is just as true of testing as it is of software development.

So my advice is:

Prototype, don't design.

Test, don't plan.

(...in the usual sense: "the actions on the left are likely to be of more value than the actions on the right. don't dogmatise me unnecessarily!)

--titus

Legacy Comments

Posted by Noah Gift on 2007-06-19 at 20:16.

I personally like that style as that is how I do things...I would
rather prototype and learn interactively.  I am probably not smart
enough to think the problem entirely through in my head...then you add
threads and forget it :)