Cucumber Wisdom: BDD and TDD Practices

The Discipline of Doing Less

Many developers see writing tests first as something that slows them down. But practices like Test-Driven Development (TDD) and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) are not about going slower. They are about discipline: building just enough software to solve the real problem — and nothing more.

In The Cucumber for Java Book, the authors put it beautifully:

“This principle, deliberately doing the minimum useful work the tests will let us get away with, might seem lazy, but in fact it’s a discipline.”

Designing Through Examples

Both TDD and BDD ask us to write examples before writing the code. This isn’t an accident. By starting with concrete examples:

• We clarify the behavior the system should have.
• We design interfaces that are easier to use and test.
• We prevent ourselves from writing speculative features that nobody asked for.

As the book notes:

“Both BDD and TDD ask us to write examples before we write the code to help us drive out just the functionality that our customers want, and no more.”

Why This Matters

1. Minimalism as a skill Writing the smallest amount of code to make a test pass keeps the codebase lean and reduces technical debt. This isn’t laziness — it’s professionalism.
2. Tests as design drivers Thinking in terms of tests first naturally improves architecture. You end up with code that’s modular, decoupled, and easier to change.
3. Shared understanding with customers In BDD, examples are expressed in a shared language (e.g., Gherkin). This ensures the whole team, including non-technical stakeholders, understands what the system does and why.

Practical Takeaways

• Start with a failing test or example.
• Write the smallest amount of code to make it pass.
• Refactor with confidence, guided by your tests.
• Involve stakeholders early, using examples as a common language.

Closing Thought

BDD and TDD are not about testing. They are about design, communication, and focus. They help us build the right software — no more, no less.

This is a part of my #CucumberWisdom series. Use the hashtag to find other articles on this topic.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the authors of The Cucumber for Java Book for their insightful perspectives, and to the broader software development community for continuously refining practices like BDD and TDD.