• Course: TDD for Embedded C++
  • Date entered: 2015-08-20 17:08:30 UTC
  • Course rating: Very Good
  • Most useful learnings: Why TDD is important. Thing is, I think it can only be done through exercises and the instructor pointing out (as he did) the mistakes people made from one iteration to the next.
  • Concepts v exercises: Good balance
  • Presentation v discussion: Good balance
  • Course improvements: Not sure, but I'm thinking a 1 day course for senior programmers that already understand refactoring, decoupling, etc. could have maybe 1/3 discussion and 2/3 exercises might be good. That way more people will take the course. For this course, no explanation of C or C++ (malloc, inheritance, etc.). Just TDD.
  • Exercise rating: Excellent
  • Exercise improvements: cyber-dojo.org is excellent for teaching these courses. Very impressed. The exercises don't need improvement.
  • Instructor comments: James was very good. Kept the class on point and focused. A little more humor might help, but tough to do right.
  • Better prepared: Bring it on!
  • Start tomorrow: Because today is tomorrow and I'm starting today. :)
  • Challenges to applying: Cultural. I think my management is behind this and I can champion it effectively with a little persistence and determination.
  • Other comments: I sent this email to my management: "Thanks for strongly encouraging me to take the TDD course. My first impression was this is programming for dummies but, after doing the exercises, I gained a deeper appreciation for it. While it is easy to understand, it takes a little effort to master. The techniques are what I already do (iterating, refactoring, decoupling, converging) but with more and better testing, and that testing really turns it up to 11. Ultimately, IMO, this will be a big win for us. I am going to start putting this in practice."
  • Legacy code workshop: No
  • Recommend to others: Yes
  • Quote permission: No