CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2009/wiki2 6 TDD

Survey of "Driven Development" Methodologies

Software Development Methodology

According to 1 :

"A software development methodology is a framework used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing a software 

system.[1]"

Figure 1

A software might range from a simple small application to a large and complex system in which the applications typically manage immense data sets and support complicated and extensive algorithms. Ad hoc approaches might sometimes work in developing small applications, because of the brilliance of the individuals developing it, but fails in most cases. Figure 1 shows the effects of an improper development methodology. A software development process has requirements. The things that an organization must understand are what software system will be developed, how much time would the development take, and what would be the quality of the final product. The amount and the way the software system meets the requirements determines the quality of a software system, Hence, a software development methodology is a critical tool for reaching these, complex and difficult to manage, requirements [2].

Below are a list of few software development approaches. Till date we have development approaches like responsibility driven (RDD), test driven (TDD), behavior driven (BDD), domain driven(DDD), and model driven (MDD). All these approaches emphasize a core set of values and principles around which efficient software development practices, techniques, and tools have emerged. A developer should thoughtful choose among practices without losing their essence. But not all practices are congruent [3].

Test Driven Development(TDD)

Figure 2 ^[7]

Test Driven (TDD) methodologies are a part of programming methodologies referred to as Agile Software Development or 'Extreme Programming'. These methodologies encourage a faster and iterative development cycle. TDD offers advantages over the typical waterfall development, such as improved black box testing performance, reduced code complexity, greater number of fulfilled customer requirements, and greatly reduced test and debug time near the end of the development cycle[1].

Martin Fowler claims that TDD “gives you this sense of keeping just one ball in the air at once, so you can concentrate on that ball properly and do a really good job with it.”

References

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_development_methodologies

[2] Larry Trussell, “Essential Software Development Methodology”, Power Engineering Society 1999 Winter Meeting, IEEE ,31 Jan.-4 Feb. 1999 Page(s):357 - 361 vol.1.

[3] Wirfs-Brock, R.J.;” Driven to ... Discovering Your Design Values”, IEEE Software, Volume 24, Issue 1, Jan.-Feb. 2007 Page(s):9 - 11

[4] Fraser, J.; Mattu, B.S.; "Test Driven Design Challenges for Faster Product Development", Systems Conference, 2007 1st Annual IEEE 9-13 April 2007 Page(s):1 - 5

[5] http://www.agiledata.org/essays/tdd.html

[6] M. Fowler, Test-Driven Development by Example, Addison-Wesley, 2003.

[7] Mugridge, R.; "Test driven development and the scientific method" Agile Development Conference, 2003. ADC 2003. Proceedings of the 2003 Page(s):47 - 52