TDD & Commit: Is unit testing harmful? What about Rework/Refactoring?

Note: This is a scheduled email series of our previous webinars that I've prepared for your summer break while I’m on vacation 🏝️ I’ll be back soon for our regular streams and coaching.

We dig into:

• The blurred lines between unit tests, refactoring, and rework

• Why test deletion during rework is a design smell

• What a good commit message really means when TDD is in play

When developers say “unit testing is harmful,” they’re usually reacting to pain—not principles.

In this talk, we unpack where testing actually goes wrong: not because of TDD itself, but because of how teams use it in environments full of churn, unclear intent, and disconnected rework. I explore how refactoring differs from rework, why tests get deleted, and what TDD really earns you—not in theory, but at the moment you commit code.

Unit tests can be a bottleneck if they don’t match the pace of design evolution.

Just changing code isn’t refactoring. Without intention and improved structure, rework is just churn that often bypasses tests entirely.

Real refactoring happens in small, controlled steps, guided by test feedback.

When developers rework code they don’t understand, they often delete the tests to avoid friction. This points to missing seams or poor test design.

When you commit with TDD, you’re proving intent, understanding, and behavior. It’s executable documentation.

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Thank you Alex Jukes, Simon Jefferies, Farjmand Zahra, and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app.