Course Outline

🔹 Day 1: Foundations of TDD and Writing Effective Tests

Session 1: Introduction to TDD

• What is TDD? The Red-Green-Refactor cycle
• Benefits of TDD: quality, design, maintainability
• Common myths and challenges in adopting TDD

Session 2: Writing Unit Tests First

• Writing clear, focused unit tests
• Test frameworks overview (JUnit, pytest, Jest, etc.)
• Mocking, stubbing, and test doubles basics

Session 3: Practical TDD Workflow

• Writing failing tests (Red phase)
• Writing minimum code to pass tests (Green phase)
• Refactoring with confidence (Refactor phase)

Lab Activities:

• Write unit tests for simple functions before implementation
• Practice red-green-refactor cycles on small coding challenges
• Use mocks to isolate units under test

🔹 Day 2: Applying TDD in Complex Scenarios

Session 1: Testing Edge Cases and Error Handling

• Designing tests for edge and failure cases
• Parameterized and data-driven testing
• Handling exceptions and asynchronous code in tests

Session 2: TDD for Integration and API Testing

• Writing integration tests with databases and external APIs
• Using test doubles for external dependencies
• Automating test setup and teardown

Session 3: Refactoring Legacy Code with TDD

• Strategies for adding tests to legacy code
• Characterization tests to capture existing behavior
• Incremental refactoring techniques

Lab Activities:

• Write integration tests for a REST API
• Apply TDD to a legacy code snippet with no tests
• Practice refactoring code using tests as a safety net

🔹 Day 3: TDD in Agile and Continuous Delivery

Session 1: TDD and Agile Workflows

• Integrating TDD into Agile and Scrum sprints
• Pair programming and code reviews to support TDD
• Managing test suites and test-driven design evolution

Session 2: Continuous Integration and Test Automation

• Setting up CI pipelines with automated test runs
• Code coverage metrics and quality gates
• Managing flaky tests and test maintenance

Session 3: Capstone Project and Best Practices

• Build a small real-world feature using TDD end-to-end
• Present code and testing approach to peers
• Review of anti-patterns and advanced TDD tips

Lab Activities:

• Implement a feature using TDD from requirements to deployment
• Set up a CI job to run tests automatically on commit
• Analyze and improve test suite performance and reliability