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SpecFlow/BDD for Unit Tests?
Over the last few years I have worked in TDD using NUnit/Moq and over the last few months I have been getting to grips with BDD using mSpec.
So far so good but we now want to move more into acceptance criteria based tests where the business analysts are involved and we get an outside in development process.
So now we have predefined Gherkin syntax files and with specflow it feels the right way to work.
However, at a unit test level having predefined Gherkin files would go against what I understand about TDD. In other words, you design as you go a long evolving your design with behaviour.
As we are working using the outside in approach, now at unit test level could it be that we now have the specifications/behaviors that can now be used to drive my unit tests (just feels like it is against the way I have been doing TDD)?
Earlier these files were important for acceptance tests but as a developer I will work alone so they are not necessary unless I use SpecFlow.
Also what benefit would we have at a unit test level having GWT files maintained when we are using mspec? Developers should be able to just jump into the code and read the tests or just run the test runner to see what it is doing.
TIA
JD
My spontaneous answer is No.
Tha main benefit of BDD and tools like specflow and Cucumber is communication with the stakeholders of the project and creating a shared understanding of what is to be built.
The main benefit of TDD is to take small steps through a solutions implementation, ensuring that you build maintainable and great code.
Or if you want; BDD is about ensuring that we’re building the right thing, TDD is about ensuring that we’re building it right.
I answered a question like this the other day on my blog, if you want more details; http://www.marcusoft.net/2011/11/bdd-and-technical-scenarios.html