This post originated from an RSS feed registered with Agile Buzz by Rod Waldhoff. Original Post: Re: "Test First Design With UML" and who's recepetive to test first development Feed Title: Rod Waldhoff: Methodology Channel Feed URL: http://radio-weblogs.com/0122027/categories/agileMethods/rss.xml Feed Description: about methodologies in general, and agile methods in particular Latest Agile Buzz Posts Latest Agile Buzz Posts by Rod Waldhoff Latest Posts From Rod Waldhoff: Methodology Channel

I ran across David Hussman's "Test First Design With UML" in a list of bookmarks, though I'm not sure where I picked it up originally (likely another blog, I suppose).

This brief (two page) but interesting paper had two points I found especially worthy of note:

First, Hussman suggests that every story card be accompanied by a sequence ("lollipop") diagram, right on the back of the card (and further suggests a protocol for implementing that card using that diagram). As a frequent but informal user of sequence diagrams, I find this idea appealing.

Second, Huffman makes this incidental comment:

"I think that most developers that have gravitated toward test first design, have done so because it matched (or formalized) their development habits."

I find that a rather insightful statement, and I wonder what it means to those of us who'd like to convince developers to whom test first doesn't come naturally to follow this approach. (Cf. this post, its comment thread, and others.)