[rspec-users] Is BDD with RSpec cheaper?

[Alex Satrapa]

On 08/07/2008, at 04:25 , yitzhakbg wrote:

> Just had a discussion with a prospective employer, a Ruby On Rails  
> shop. His
> reaction to BDD development on every project was skeptical, saying  
> something
> like: "It depends on the project". "Some jobs are so short that the  
> extra
> time invested in developing tests doesn't justify the cost".

If I'm not expected to maintain the code, the project isn't going to  
grow particularly big, and the interface has fewer than 7 major  
functions, there's no real need to spec it out since you can hold the  
entire design in your head.

> The question is whether BDD coding with RSpec is more expensive in the
> implementation phase and how much truth there is in the statement  
> that BDD
> isn't for every project, like quick knock ups for example?

If you're trying to specify the design in the implementation phase,  
then yes you're wasting time. The time isn't being wasted in writing  
specs, it's already been wasted in committing design to paper without  
trying out any of the major features to see that they make sense in  
code.

There's one department at the University where I work that insists on  
big design up front. They fully specify the software using UML or  
whatever the flavour of the month is, then implement from that. Just  
one more reason why I don't ever want to work within a bureaucracy.

Alex