Test driven development actually worked for me today. In the voting project that is due this Thursday (still getting better at finishing early), my tests that I wrote helped to quickly find an issue in my code. It is almost sad that it’s taken me this long to see the benefit of TDD. Two semesters ago I took Glenn Downing’s software engineering class. That class is all about processes like TDD and the benefits that came from it. I just always ended up writing my tests last due to pure laziness. Finally now I can see the benefit from not going the lazy route; even if it has taken me an entire year. Hopefully after this class I will be willing enough to try and put tests in all my class projects. The gtest framework we are using is very nice to use once you are used to it.
I am excited about this week’s topics. The stack vs heap topics should be interesting. C++ is still my weakest language, but I am getting more and more comfortable with it each week. I am hoping that these lectures will help that understanding jump a few rungs on the metaphorical ladder. Memory management is a large part of how C++ operates so understanding the stack v.s. the heap will really help.