Re: [testdrivendevelopment] "I think the community needs more explicit direction...."

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I teach programming at the local university and have found that one of the
biggest mental blocks which students need to overcome is the assumption
that there is only one way to solve any problem, and that the job of a
programmer is to find that way.

This mindset makes it really hard to teach refactoring, particularly in the
context of eager new practitioners of TDD who want to rush on to the next
test as soon as the first one passes.

I'm not sure where this attitude comes from. Perhaps the way that
programming and/or software development has been reframed as "coding", and
the implications of the name, or maybe that first experiences in the field
often come from poking at HTML and CSS with a stick to get something that
looks right, and then copy/pasting a bit of Javascript or PHP to make
something happen, or perhaps the prevalence of fill-in-the blanks
frameworks, or perhaps that so many students prefer to learn by following a
linear set of steps from YouTube, Who knows

I'd love to investigate this in more detail, as I too, can see how much new
developers struggle with the concept and skills of refactoring.

If it helps, I have found that I get slightly better traction if I lead
with the idea of "code smells."

Frank Carver

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<div dir=3D"ltr">I teach programming at the local university and have found=
 that one of the biggest mental blocks which students need to overcome is t=
he assumption that there is only one way to solve any problem, and that the=
 job of a programmer is to find that way.<div><br></div><div>This mindset m=
akes it really hard to teach refactoring, particularly in the context of ea=
ger new practitioners of TDD who want to rush on to the next test as soon a=
s the first one passes.<div><br></div><div>I&#39;m not sure where this atti=
tude comes from. Perhaps the way that programming and/or software developme=
nt has been reframed as &quot;coding&quot;, and the implications of the nam=
e, or maybe that first experiences in the field often come from poking at H=
TML and CSS with a stick to get something that looks right, and then copy/p=
asting a bit of Javascript or PHP to make something happen, or perhaps the =
prevalence of fill-in-the blanks frameworks, or perhaps that so many studen=
ts prefer to learn by following a linear set of steps from YouTube, Who kno=
ws<br></div><div><br></div><div>I&#39;d love to investigate this in more de=
tail, as I too, can see how much new developers struggle with the concept a=
nd skills of refactoring.</div><div><br></div><div>If it helps, I have foun=
d that I get slightly better traction if I lead with the idea of &quot;code=
 smells.&quot;</div><div><br></div><div>Frank Carver</div></div></div>

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