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"Test Driven Development” or “Requirements Driven Development"?

The term “Test Driven Development” appears far more widely than the term “Requirements Driven Development”. However, I argue that it is the latter which should often be the driving force. That is, unless the project is extremely agile and requirements only emerge through trial and error. T.D.D. seems to be a great approach to unit testing, but for the higher level test phases I argue that we should be looking to elaborate test cases through the exploration of requirements and it is the linkage between successful tests and requirements which ultimately prove the worth of the development. Is this obvious or worthy of debate?

"TDD" = "RDD"

TDD is a great approach to testing; not just unit testing. It is the role of the Test Analyst to design tests that map to the business requirements i.e. the tests are driven by the requirements. The tests should be technology neutral and would be as suitable for testing a manual system as an automated one. After all does it make any business difference if the solution is based on a quantum computer or a steam driven difference engine as long as it delivers buiness utility.

  • By Padre at 9 Nov 2010 - 13:52