Professional Development – 2026 – Week 4

Software engineering

The Best Programmers Use Tests for Engineering Like This

Emily proposed some changes to Kent Beck’s test desiderata (2019), which is a list of desirable properties of tests. She mentioned approval tests. Two fundamental macro properties that are important are fast and predictive (“if the tests all pass, then the code under test should be suitable for production”). Two other factors to consider are cost of ownership and supportive of ongoing development.