Test-driven development in the AI era

Test-driven development (TDD) is a methodology that emphasizes writing test cases before code, as outlined by Kent Beck in the late 1990s, and involves an iterative cycle of testing and coding to ensure software quality. A survey from September 2020 revealed that 41% of developers practice TDD, which promotes writing modular, testable code and offers benefits such as easier refactoring, improved collaboration, and increased code confidence. The integration of AI code assistants, like Tabnine, can enhance the TDD process by significantly reducing the time required for each cycle through tasks such as generating unit tests from business requirements, producing code that passes these tests, and refactoring code as requirements change. Tabnine's recent integration with product portfolio management systems like Jira further accelerates this process by allowing developers to pull in business requirements directly without needing to copy-paste. The use of AI tools in TDD offers a substantial boost in efficiency, making the methodology more accessible and attractive to developers.