Kasi Prasad

I was really pleased to hear Scott Belware’s recent interview (TDD – The Final Word) on Scott Hansleman’s podcast – Hansleminutes. Scott B was really adamant about explaining that TDD is an activity that is focused on design as opposed to testing. He mentions the term Behavior Driven Development (BDD) and how it would be better suited since the word Test in TDD is often the source of confusion. I’m happy that he went as far as to have an entire interview dedicated to changing this common misconception about TDD. Test-Driven Development/Design is not about testing, it’s all about driving out the design of our applications.

When we write our code test first we are forced to make decisions about how the application will operate. We have to express the intent of our code using expectations and verifications before we ever begin implementing any actual functionality. By writing code test first we free ourselves to mold our API from the perspective of a consumer, almost ensuring that we end up with a simple API containing only what is absolutely essential.

A powerful side-effect of TDD is testability. When we write code test first we end up with a set of specifications which can be used to verify the behavior of our application. When these specifications are checked (by running the suite of tests) we can verify that our application behaves appropriately. When a change is made to the behavior of our application, these specifications will indicate (by way of failing tests), that such a change has been made. The testability aspect of TDD, while quite helpful is not the main focus of TDD it is only a side-effect.

While TDD forces us to create high quality code (because we must test pieces of the system in isolation) , doing TDD doesn’t guarantee we’re going to produce bug-free code! TDD needs the accompaniment of Integration Testing and Acceptance Testing in order to ensure quality. If TDD were a drawing, integration and acceptance testing would be the frame you’d place your finished masterpiece within.

Stay tuned for more…

Well, after much procrastination, I’ve decided to get my act together and jump on the blog roll. Expect to see new articles added on a weekly basis.

To tell you a little bit about myself:

I'm a Software Analyst / trainer & mentor living and operating out of New York City, New York. I operate a consulting firm which designs and develops applications, primarily on the Microsoft stack using the .NET Framework. I hold an assortment of Microsoft certifications and I'm an active Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT).

I believe in Agile values and practices and employ methodologies such as eXtreme Programming, Scrum and Lean to manage software projects.

I'm also a big supporter of the ALT.NET community. One of my favorite quotes describing what it means to be an ALT.NET type of developer:

"You know tools are great, but they only take you so far. It’s the principles and knowledge that really matter. The best tools are those that embed the knowledge and encourage the principles"

Since this is my first blog entry I’d like to start by thanking everyone that has inspired and motivated me, not only in my development career but all throughout the way. I couldn’t have made it without you…

Starting on January 28^th, I’ll be delivering a 12 day, boot camp style (10 hour day) course in which we’ll cover the .NET Framework 2.0 BCL (Base Class Library), Web Application Development using ASP.NET and Windows Application Development. This boot camp is geared toward preparing students for Microsoft Certification as Technology Specialist’s (70-536, 70-526, 70-528) on both the Web and Windows platforms. The content is presented at a high pace so it’s expected that attendees have at least one year of hands on .NET (1.0, 1.1, 2.0) in either C# or VB.NET. The course outline can be found here. It’s going to be held at the NetCom Information Technology training center (Empire State Building)

To give a quick rundown of what to expect (note: this is based on Microsoft Official Curriculum, so as much as I’d like to break out some Design Patterns, TDD and an ALT.NET mindset, I’ve got a schedule to keep and a strict set of curriculum, so it won’t be happening):

• Basics of the Base Class Library (lots to cover, system types, system interfaces, etc)
  • Reference Types / Value Types
  • Boxing / Unboxing
  • Exception Handling
  • Generic’s (with an emphasis on generic classes rather than collections)
  • Inheritance and Polymorphism (due to time constraints this is mainly a syntactic discussion)
  • Object Lifecycle (Instantiation, Disposal, Garbage Collection)
• Advanced aspects of the Base Class Library
  • Globalization
  • Code Access Security
  • Cryptography
  • COM+ Interop
  • Creating Windows Services
  • Reflection
  • Multithreading
• Data Access using ADO.NET
• Web Application Development using ASP.NET
  • Web Forms
  • Master Pages
  • Themes
  • Web Parts
  • Membership / Authentication / Authorization
  • Globalization
  • Creating custom controls
• Windows Forms Applications
  • Menus
  • DataBound Controls
  • Performing Asynchronous Tasks
  • ClickOnce
  • MDI Applications
  • Customized Printing
  • GDI+

As always, I will be doing a lot of code examples on the fly and I will post them all here once the course has completed so stay tuned for that. If you’d like any information about this course or would like to attend feel free to drop me an e-mail. Thanks.