TDD Sandbox Project Review

Build your Sandbox Project and get my review & feedback. You can use this skillset for applying TDD to your Real Life Project.

Jan 28, 2025

👋 Hello, this is Valentina with the free edition of the Optivem Journal. I help Engineering Leaders & Senior Software Developers apply TDD in Legacy Code.

Note: The Project Review instructions are relevant if you’re new to starting the TDD Sandbox Project. If you or your team is already working on the Sandbox Project, you can skip this article, it’s intended for new joiners.

What is TDD Sandbox Project Review?

The best way to learn and practice TDD is by building your TDD Sandbox Project, so that you can later translate that skillset to your Real Life Project.

TDD Sandbox Project Review means that while you’re building your Sandbox Project, I’ll review your project, provide feedback, and answer any questions you have.

Why TDD Sandbox Project Review?

When you read TDD books or watch TDD courses by yourself, you don't get any feedback. This means that you might apply TDD incorrectly, or you might get stuck, or you might have questions and can't find the answers.

That’s why, on top of the TDD Course, I offer you my feedback & review of your Sandbox Project. It’s the most effective way to learn - learn by doing, rather than just reading.

The feedback & review process is based on my work as a Technical Coach for teams.

What is the Review Process?

If you’ve already started your Sandbox Project, you can skip this section.
This section is intended for people who haven’t yet started the Sandbox Project but are going to start soon, and want to familiarize themselves with the process.

Your team will implement the TDD Sandbox Project based on the TDD Course, and Valentina will provide review & feedback via Substack comments.

Note: The process below refers to a team because most of our Sandbox Projects are being completed by teams, and a few are done by individuals. If you’re completing the project as an individual, the same process applies to you.

Setup:

Choose the Project Team - if you joined as part of a company subscription, then it's your team at work. If you have an individual subscription, then you can choose to do the project by yourself or with your colleagues/friends.
Create your TDD Sandbox Project. In this initial setup, I don't expect you to have any knowledge about Pipelines/Testing, just do whatever you're familiar with.
Allocate a Project Lead who will be responsible for communicating with Valentina when your team is ready for review.
1. Team members can ask questions, if some step is unclear.

Review:

Project Lead comments at the bottom of the article with a link to your team’s Sandbox Project (e.g. GitHub Repository link).
1. If anything is unclear in the instructions, anyone can ask a question.
Valentina will register your project in the TDD Sandbox Project Dashboard (if it’s not already registered)
Valentina will reply with the following, marking each step as:
1. “OK“, if done (good enough)
2. not OK (e.g. “REWORK”, “MISSING”, “QUESTION”, “DOCS”), if the team needs to do further work
The team does the following:
1. If Valentina’s comment for a step is clear and accepted by the team, the team can execute the step
2. If Valentina’s comment for a step is not clear, or the team has a question, or the team disagrees, or has alternatives, then the team can reply with a comment regarding that step so that we discuss
Project Lead writes a comment that Valentina can review again
Valentina performs review:
1. If all steps are “OK”:
  1. Valentina updates the article status as “Done“ in TDD Sandbox Project Dashboard
  2. Valentina comments that the article status is “Done“
2. If some steps are not OK:
  1. Valentina comments which steps need to be re-worked, and then we repeat the cycle above for those steps

Repeat:

Repeat the review process above for every article on the TDD Course since the Sandbox Project Dashboard is synchronized with the TDD Course outline.
Valentina reviews only when you comment.

What is the Reporting Process?

You’ll have access to your team’s project progress in the Sandbox Project Dashboard.

This is also useful for engineering managers to view their teams’ progress.

“In Review“ - assigned to Valentina; Project Lead had written a comment on Substack, Valentina is in the process of reviewing it
“In Progress“ - assigned to team; Valentina had written comment to the team to rework some steps, team is in the process of reworking the project
“Done“ - team has successfully resolved any comments raised by Valentina; Valentina has finished review

Individuals - How to get access?

For new members: Please upgrade to the TDD Academy plan to access the TDD Sandbox Project Review.

For existing members: As per my announcement about Updated Plans, if you’re a Premium Member (Annual/Monthly/Gift/Group Subscription) and had joined before 24th Jan 2025, then you will continue to have access to the TDD Sandbox Project Review until 31st Jan 2026 (next year). After that date, all Sandbox Project contributors will need to upgrade to TDD Academy Membership if they want to have continued access to TDD Sandbox Project Review.

Teams - How to get access?

For new teams: If you’re an Engineering Leader (e.g. Tech Lead, Engineering Manager, CTO), then please book a free call with me so that we can discuss your needs and teams.

For existing teams (before 24th Jan 2025): As per my announcement about Updated Plans, if you had already purchased a plan for your teams before 24th Jan 2025, then your team will continue to have access to the TDD Sandbox Project Review until 31st Jan 2026 (next year). After that date, all Sandbox Project contributors will need to upgrade to TDD Academy Membership if they want to have continued access to TDD Sandbox Project Review.

⏳Discount - valid for the next 10 days

To celebrate the launch of the TDD Academy, I’m offering a reduced price for the next 10 days, valid until 7th Feb 2025. What this means for you:

If you’re an individual, consider upgrading to the TDD Academy Plan, to get the reduced pricing, which is valid until 7th Feb 2025
If you’re an Engineering Leader interested in the TDD Academy for your teams, please book a call (or send me a message) before 7th Feb 2025, to be eligible for the reduced pricing.

Want to apply TDD in practice?

You tried TDD, but it didn’t work. That's why I'm going to help you practice TDD step-by-step. Apply TDD on a sandbox project, and get my feedback and answers to your questions. Access TDD in Legacy Code.

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