Acceptance Test-Driven Development: Mastering Agile Testing

On agile teams, testers can struggle to keep up with the pace of development if they continue employing a waterfall-based verification process—finding bugs after development. Nate Oster challenges you to question waterfall assumptions and replace this legacy verification testing with acceptance test-driven development (ATDD). With ATDD, you “test first” by writing executable specifications for a new feature before development begins. Learn to switch from “tests as verification” to “tests as specification” and to guide development with acceptance tests written in the language of your business. Get started by joining a team for a simulation and experience how ATDD helps build in quality instead of trying to test defects out. Then progress to increasingly more realistic scenarios and practice the art of specifying intent with plain-language and table-based formats. This isn’t a “tools” session. These are tabletop, paper-based simulations that give you meaningful practice with how executable specifications change the way you think about tests and collaborate as a team. Leave empowered with a kit of exercises to advocate ATDD with your own teams.