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Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

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Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#11

Post by jason_slack »

AznHisoka wrote: post #9
jason_slack wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a little unfair...We dont need to call out specific companies that dont practice this methodology. If we were to do that the list would be huge......

Actually, Pinterest is one of the few companies that don't do unit tests that I'd consider working for.. so I have the utmost respect for them.

Fair enough.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#12

Post by aidenn0 »

The vast majority of companies do minimal or no unit tests. My estimate would be less than 1% do significant unit tests.

If a company doesn't do some sort of automated integration tests, that would probably be a much bigger red flag, as for any sufficiently complex software, what works is approximately equal to what is tested, and automated tests let you test a lot more than non-automated tests.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#13

Post by paulhauggis »

I've never worked for a company that writes unit tests. These companies still had great code.

However, if you said they weren't using any type of source control, I might re-consider. However, You could also use this opportunity to move up in the company by implementing it.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#14

Post by bradleyjg »

I realize we are in a bubble, but trust me bubbles don't last forever. You need to think longer term. Ask anyone that was working in tech circa 2002.

The questions you should be asking are:

-How is the pay? What are the benefits like? What are the expectations for hours?

-Does my future boss seem like a person I can get along with? What about my co-workers?

-Does the company have a business model that makes sense (i.e. will their checks eventually start bouncing)?

-Am I going to be working with technologies that are in widespread enough use that I can get another job even after the bubble bursts (hint: you want technologies that are in use in "boring" corporate settings as well as start-ups)?

All of these are far, far more important than if they give you a fancy chair or MacBook Pros; whether they use SCRUM or XP; svn instead of git; etc.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#15

Post by CKCKCKCK1 »

There are good reasons for having unit tests, however, unit tests do not make a good product. It is the same automated tests, source control, etc... It could be said about most development paradigms. They are just tools in the toolbox. How you use those tools and the information they provide is what makes the difference. I've seen many cases of an urge to implement the latest & greatest "THING" in the internet, only to have it fall flat because it was complete overkill, wrong tool for the job, or simply poorly timed execution (you cant implement the "perfect world" overnight, it takes several iteration for the people and processess to catch up).

When you get there, if you think it would benefit them based off of their work style / processes / product, I would come up with a plan to start using unit tests and use this as an opportunity to climb the ladder.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#17

Post by mirsadm »

My last company was crazy about unit tests, automated testing and continuous integration. While I was there I did learn quite a few things (thanks to couple of very talented individuals). They even paid pretty well and the work environment was nice. However, I left after a year and would never go back. Unit tests don't make a great place to work. Our projects were always late, everything was over engineered and it was turned into a pretty frustrating work environment.

Re: Would you accept a job offer from a company that wasn't writing unit tests?

#18

Post by codeonfire »

Unit tests, code reviews, pair programming, procedures, etc are all tools. Their use depends on the circumstances. In some cases unit tests are the absolute wrong thing to do. For instance what if you have been given two days to prepare a client demo on which a large contract rests. Unfortunately, a great many people have found that they can exist in the corporate world simply by complaining about things and never really doing anything. Either that or they don't know what their doing. These are the people who try to enforce rules like 'every commit has to be code reviewed' or 'every single line has to be unit tested.' Usually its at a small, new company where the guy put in charge is still beginner-intermediate level. In these situations there is usually cargo cult behavior going on and a desire to look like experienced devs by making stupid rules for everyone else.
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