When I first started trying out TDD and (more so when I started using the
TestDriven.Net),
I still spend a good chunk of my test development time stepping through the code line
by line, checking the state of variable etc. It took me a while to kick the habit,
but when you get stuck into TDD you won't be spending anywhere near as much time stepping
through your code trying to work out what’s going wrong as you probably used to.
Why? Because the unit tests you write in an incremental fashion, build slowly on the
last and in turn your confidence in the code is greater – you no longer feel the need
to step through the code. When I run a test that fails now I can usually spot the
issue relatively quickly without having to "step in". Those small TDD steps really
pay off.
Don't get me wrong, I still step into my code when I get a curly one, but it's more
the odd occasion now than the natural response.
Stay out of that debugger - it will save you a lot of time :-)
