> Test cases were not that fashionable back in the day. Surprisingly, people still got work done.
Reinforced concrete did not exist back in the day. Surprisingly, some people still got work done.
It's tempting to be dismissive of modern development practices (TDD, for example) using the argument that a lot of great software was written before it existed. If the icons of the past could write Unix without TDD, why do we need it to build a CRUD app? This is an extremely poor argument against improving development practices.
People were getting building done before reinforced concrete, doing particle physics before synchrotrons, and designing mechanical devices before CAD. Since we have had these things, however, each of these fields has advanced significantly due to their use. It would certainly be possible to design the complex solid forms of something like an iPad without CAD, but it would be much more difficult and expensive. It's the same way with development practices. Modern development approaches, in many cases, significantly reduce the cost and risk of software development.
> Modern development approaches, in many cases, significantly reduce the cost and risk of software development.
I'm sure some do. For others, a lot of people claim they do, but there is precious little empirical evidence to support the claim. Many practices associated with Agile are poster children for that second group, including TDD.
>It's tempting to be dismissive of modern development practices (TDD, for example) using the argument that a lot of great software was written before it existed.
It is even more tempting to be dismissive because there is no evidence to support the notion than TDD is in any way helpful, and there is evidence that suggests it does not help at all.
"""People were getting building done before reinforced concrete, doing particle physics before synchrotrons, and designing mechanical devices before CAD. Since we have had these things, however, each of these fields has advanced significantly due to their use."""
I actually like the achievements of each of these fields better, way before those technological advances.
Reinforced concrete architecture sucks compared to the marvels of times past, particle physics were more interesting back in the day of the Copenhagen boyz, and I like pre-cad mechanical devices, from cars to watches, better than what we get today. But that's just me.
Surprisingly, people still got work done.