Author Archives: Liz

I am not a Pr0n Star: avoiding unavoidable associations

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Liz

I just read Matt Amionetti’s thoughtfully worded response to the reaction he’s got from his presentation, “CouchDB: Perform like a Pr0n star”. Indeed, reading the response, it seems almost inconceivable that anyone could possibly be offended by his presentation. Matt … Continue reading →

Posted in breaking models, feedback | 54 Comments

Why you should write tests last

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Liz

Prompted by Szczepan’s post. I have written tests after code when the code is already there, but I / others don’t know what it does or how to use it, and we need to I wrote a spike which turned … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd | Leave a comment

Goodbye, ThoughtWorks – Hello, Worlds

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Liz

Today is my last day with ThoughtWorks. It feels strange to be leaving a job I love with the most amazing company in the world, at a time when I should rightly be thankful for having a job in the … Continue reading →

Posted in writing | 7 Comments

Given / When / Then granularity

Posted on April 16, 2009 by Liz

When we first wrote JBehave 1.0 we quickly recognised that there was power in the scenarios; in the conversations that they could help to drive, and in the reusability of the steps. I loved the ease with which you could … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, jbehave, stories | 2 Comments

What does “Not Agile” look like?

Posted on April 14, 2009 by Liz

Last week, the XtC London group met up with the SPA2009 attendees. Joseph Perline ran a panel session with Tim Mackinnon, Rachel Davies and others in which they discussed the weakening of the Agile brand. One of the most interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in breaking models | 4 Comments

Tests should make things easy to change

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Liz

People often ask me to review their unit tests, or answer questions on how to write different aspects of tests. I frequently find myself making the same suggestions over and over again. So, if you were thinking of asking one … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd | 2 Comments

Oops!

Posted on March 18, 2009 by Liz

I was warned that there would come a point when the few spam posts I was getting would suddenly multiply to the point where I couldn’t keep up with them, but I didn’t listen. That point just came today. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in life | Leave a comment

You’ve heard of BDD, DDD and TDD

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Liz

Damien Guard introduces the other *DDs.. I particularly like “Psychic Driven Development” and “Golf Driven Design”. Thanks, Damien.

Posted in bdd | 1 Comment

The pair chair

Posted on February 6, 2009 by Liz

Finally, an approach to pairing which maximises colocation. It’s guaranteed to bring people closer to my thoughts. I can’t wait for the new batch to arrive.

Posted in humour | Leave a comment

Empowerment

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Liz

Simon Baker has written a superb post, capturing the elusive nature of empowerment. He mentions “an environment that tolerates mistakes to cultivate learning”. For me, this is an essential part of innovation; of the Lean metaphor that suggests a Software … Continue reading →

Posted in lean | Tagged , , | 1 Comment