Section 18.8. Summary

18.8. Summary

Creating Fit tables is a creative, intellectual activity. It can be a process of invention and discovery, as concrete examples help clarify what is needed from a system.

Three principles of table design work together. Tests are for communicating ideas, especially when a test is written to help drive the development of a software system. Tests inevitably change as a system evolves, so we need to design Fit tables from the very start with that in mind. Tests are automated so that the developers know when they're done and know when something has been undone by mistake.

Tests need to be expressed clearly and succinctly. In the process of developing tests from concrete examples, a kind of language emerges: the vocabulary of header labels and actions that describe what's needed.