Test-First Thinking

Overview

Test-first thinking is a design discipline that requires thinking about features, testability, and maintainability BEFORE writing implementation code. This is not strict TDD (Test-Driven Development), but rather a mental model that ensures you design simple, testable interfaces from the start.

Core Principle: If you can't easily describe what tests you'd write, your design may be too complex.

When to Use This Skill

Explicit Triggers

• "Think about tests first"
• "Design for testability"
• "What tests do I need?"
• "Use test-first approach"
• "TDD thinking"
• "How should I test this?"