zeikar hyper-tdd
Test-driven discipline tailored to this author's preferences.
The loop
- Write the failing test first. Name the behavior, not the implementation. The test should compile/import but fail because the behavior doesn't exist yet.
- Run it. Confirm it fails for the right reason. "Cannot find function" is fine. "ReferenceError because of typo in test" is not — fix the test.
- Write the minimum code to make it pass. Resist scope creep. No "while I'm here" edits.
- Run it. Confirm it passes.
- Commit. One behavior, one commit. Commit messages describe the behavior, not the code.
- Refactor if there's a clear smell. Tests must still pass after.
Skip TDD when
- Touching only documentation, comments, or formatting.
- Renaming a symbol (an LSP/grep operation, not a behavior change).
- One-shot migration scripts that run once and get deleted.
- Config-only changes (e.g., updating a
.gitignore).
What "minimum" means here
Implement only what the current test requires. If you need a helper, add the simplest version. Do not pre-build for tests you might write later — write that test first, then the helper.
What good test names look like
- ✅
slugify drops non-ASCII characters - ✅
cli --dry-run prints JSON without spawning codex - ❌
test_slugify(says nothing) - ❌
slugify works correctly(vague)