My standards for TDD microtests are the same standards I have for shipping code, and I follow them in microtests for the same reason I follow them in shipping code: they make me faster. I go out in the field, and I inspect a lot of tests, and I have to say, lousy factoring, bad naming, massive duplication, and low signal-to-noise are pretty much the order of the day out there. This often holds true even when the shipping code is comparatively well made. I suspect a lot of this comes from the "chore" outlook that's so prevalent around tests. That's heightened, of course, by the tendency of orgs to try to get to TDD by fiat. I am sympathetic to all persons everywhere who don't perform well when they're voluntold to do chores.
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