Mike Clark

Props to Jason for snapping my blog banner pic (above) while in Rocky Mountain National Park, one of my favorite outdoor haunts.

After drawing inspiration from nature, we took to the city for this weekend's Rocky Mountain Software Symposium. If I had to sum up this symposium in one word, I'd say it was fun. The collective wit and humor of the cadre of speakers on this tour adds an intangible quality that just can't be manufactured. Indeed, the energy of this jelled team seemed to permeate the entire symposium.

I was encouraged by the turnout and very nice responses to my new 3-hour session on test-driven development. When I started giving an abbreviated version of this talk early last year, attendees were interested but skeptical. Write a test before the code that makes it pass? You must be kidding! How can that possibly make me go faster!?

But the meme continued to spread through other talks and print media. Little by little, the design and documentation goodness of the test-first practice started to shine through the darkness. Now folks are starting to ask the next question: TDD is working wonders for me, but how do I sell it to my manager and the rest of my team?

Well, I'd love to help your team (and your manager) start feeling healthy through my one-day test-infection program. Those who have tried it say they've never felt better. I'm also a big fan of Tom Sawyer's approach to getting people interested in what you're doing. Does a programmer get a chance to simultaneously analyze, design, code, document, and test software every day? Oh, shucks, lemme try!

Our next symposium stop is St. Louis on May 30th.