--- title: "\"Tests Are a Waste of Time\"" url: https://daily.dev/posts/tests-are-a-waste-of-time--czqwqhubb source_url: https://khalilstemmler.com/articles/tests-are-a-waste-of-time type: article source: "Khalil Stemmler" published: 2026-06-17T11:25:55.303Z updated: 2026-06-17T11:29:22.579Z tags: ["general-programming", "testing", "architecture", "tdd"] reading_time: 11 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # "Tests Are a Waste of Time" **[Khalil Stemmler](https://daily.dev/sources/khalilstemmler)** · 11 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A rebuttal to the common belief that TDD and writing tests first is a waste of time. The argument is structured in three parts: (1) professional software development is fundamentally about making guesses and verifying them through feedback loops, making tests essential; (2) writing tests first requires a testable architecture (hexagonal/clean/ports-and-adapters), which is hard to retrofit later; and (3) testing is genuinely difficult to learn but mastering it unlocks better design skills, scalable code, and career value. The post acknowledges that TDD isn't always strategic — early-stage products with no customers should focus on validating theoretical value before investing in test infrastructure. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Epistemology of software](https://daily.dev/posts/epistemology-of-software-bhszdbbab) · ploeh blog · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#general-programming](https://daily.dev/tags/general-programming), [#testing](https://daily.dev/tags/testing), [#architecture](https://daily.dev/tags/architecture), [#tdd](https://daily.dev/tags/tdd) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/tests-are-a-waste-of-time--czqwqhubb)