Test First Development and Making a Cake

One of the mixed curses of being obsessed with software is that you see reminders of it everywhere, even in things that predate the existence of software.

For example, Cake Making.

When you're making a cake, you need to add eggs to your cake mixture.

My wife told me that you don't break the eggs directly into the mixture. Instead, you break them into a separate bowl, and then add them to the mixture.

"Why not break them directly into the mixture?" I asked.

She picked up her cookbook and turned to Appendix A -- The SOLID Cooking Principles, by Robert C. Martin.

No she didn't.

She explained that if an egg is bad you don't want to ruin the entire bowl of cake mix. And it's easier to spot little bits of egg shell in a bowl of yolks than in a bowl of cake mix.

"Ah, the virtues of independent deployment," I said.

And she looked at me askance. (Askance is not the best way to be looked at, btw).

While we're discussing eggs, I have to repeat my favourite saw:

"You don't have to eat a whole egg to know it's bad."


(Side point: this topic fits with the stack overflow question "What real life bad habits has programming given you?" wherein you will find over 425 similar experiences. What a sad lot we is.)


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