test-driven-development

The Red-Green-Refactor cycle in test-driven development involves writing a failing test, implementing minimal production code to pass the test, and then refactoring the code for clarity and maintainability.

To start writing tests before production code, begin by writing a failing test that captures the desired behavior, then implement the simplest possible code to make that test pass successfully.

Yes, you can apply test-driven development to bug fixes and refactoring by ensuring explicit test coverage that captures desired behavior before altering existing production code.

You prevent pushing production code without failing tests by enforcing TDD guardrails that require early failing tests and consistent naming alongside incremental changes during feature work.

You should refactor your code in the TDD workflow immediately after writing minimal production code to pass a failing test, ensuring disciplined improvements for long-term maintainability.