test-driven-development

Prevent regression bugs during refactoring by enforcing a test-first discipline that locks in existing behavior with failing tests before making code changes. This ensures repeatable red-green-refactor workflows and confirms your full test suite remains green after modifications.

The red-green-refactor workflow requires writing a failing test to define desired behavior, implementing the minimal production code to make it pass, and then safely cleaning up the code. This test-first process prevents implementation drift and ensures reliable feature delivery.

Fix a parsing bug using a test-first approach by writing a failing test that verifies the specific expected behavior, running it to confirm it fails for the correct reason, and then implementing only the necessary code change to make the test pass.

Yes, test-driven development works for adding new API endpoints by requiring you to define the endpoint behavior with a failing test first, implementing the smallest code change to satisfy that test, and confirming the full suite still passes.

You need a failing test before writing production code to define exact behavior expectations upfront and prevent implementation drift. This disciplined verification ensures you only write the minimal code necessary to satisfy the test.