test-driven-development

Test-driven development prevents regressions by enforcing a strict red-green-refactor cycle, requiring a failing test before writing any minimal production code for new features. This ensures every code change is validated before deployment.

Common testing anti-patterns include testing mock behavior instead of real functionality and skipping the mandatory verification of test failure before implementation. Avoiding these mistakes ensures your test-driven development workflow produces reliable, maintainable codebases.

Apply the red-green-refactor cycle by first writing a failing test that reproduces the bug or verifies the intended behavior change, then writing minimal code to pass the test, and finally refactoring. This eliminates untested, regression-prone production code.

Yes, test-driven development covers all software engineering tasks including new feature implementation, bug fix delivery, code refactoring, and behavior change deployment. It enforces a strict test-first workflow to ensure every code modification is validated.

Mandatory verification of test failure before implementation is required in test-driven development to confirm the test accurately targets the intended behavior. This strict test-first workflow prevents false positives and eliminates untested production code.

The best way to start writing reliable code with test-driven development is to implement a new feature by first writing a failing test for a specific requirement, then writing minimal code to make the test pass before moving to the next requirement.