> It's tough, but my main goal was to challenge the dogma of "always write automated tests."
It's perfectly fine to challenge dogma and ask people figure out whether the automated tests make sense for their use case. I think the push for automated tests came when there were so many others who grossly underestimate the benefits of automated tests and dismiss them off-hand.
It's hard to see the benefits of automated testing. It's easy to see the time spent writing the tests while it's hard to see the time saved by catching bugs before they happen. It's also easier to refactor if you have tests to confirm that your refactoring didn't break something.
It's perfectly fine to challenge dogma and ask people figure out whether the automated tests make sense for their use case. I think the push for automated tests came when there were so many others who grossly underestimate the benefits of automated tests and dismiss them off-hand.
It's hard to see the benefits of automated testing. It's easy to see the time spent writing the tests while it's hard to see the time saved by catching bugs before they happen. It's also easier to refactor if you have tests to confirm that your refactoring didn't break something.