Category Archives: testing

BDD: A Three-Headed Monster

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Liz

Back in Greek mythology, there was a dog called Cerberus. It guarded the gate to the underworld, and it had three heads. There was a great guy called Heracles (Hercules in Latin) who was a demi-god, which means he would … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, deliberate discovery, stories, testing | 4 Comments

Discrete vs. Continuous Capabilities

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Liz

A capability is more than just being able to do something. The word which describes being able to do something is ability. I do sometimes use this while describing what a capability is, but there are connotations there that are … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, capability red, stakeholders, testing | 6 Comments

The Myth of “What” and “How”

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Liz

I often hear things like, “Tell the team what to build, but don’t tell them how to build it.” Or, “A feature is what you’re building. A story is how you’re going to build it.” Or, “When you’re doing TDD, … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, business value, stories, testing | 1 Comment

The Real Cost of Change

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Liz

We have a strange desire for control. I was in a planning meeting with my project manager and several of the devs. “What happened?” the project manager said. “Why did this one story take so long?” “There was some functionality … Continue reading →

Posted in breaking models, cynefin, learning, spike and stabilize, testing, uncertainty | 14 Comments

ATDD vs. BDD, and a potted history of some related stuff

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Liz

Another question that people often ask around or to me is, “What’s the difference between Acceptance Test Driven Development and Behavior Driven Development?” To explain, I’ll go back to the time when I first learnt BDD. BDD started at a … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, business value, stories, testing | 15 Comments

Step Away from the Tools

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Liz

This may seem odd coming from someone who spent months coding a BDD tool, but seriously… put it down. Step away. BDD has taken off in the last few years, and lots of people have approached me for help. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, testing | 20 Comments

Giving effective feedback: How to change your Code’s behaviour

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Liz

Have you ever wanted to change the behaviour of some code that you work with? I’d like to share a few techniques with you which have helped me to change the behaviour of code I’ve worked with, with little conflict, … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, humour, testing | Leave a comment

What not to test

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Liz

A couple of people have recently written asking for advice on how to start writing scenarios. In both instances, they have started by logging in, because “that’s what the users do first”. If you’re doing BDD, may I suggest starting … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, testing | 5 Comments

Testing vs. BDD

Posted on September 5, 2009 by Liz

I’ve found a few places recently where the word “Test” has been used in combination with the words “Behaviour Driven” (with or without the “u”). Normally this makes me wince; the whole origin of BDD was intended to separate the … Continue reading →

Posted in bdd, testing | Leave a comment