Though it is certainly possible to produce [good] code without employing TDD, it's actually quite difficult to produce something ugly if you are writing your tests first.
From Ruby Best Practices (http://bit.ly/19ky43). A book I'm thoroughly enjoying thus far.
In Japan, the distinction between craft and art is blurred at most, possibly nonexistent. Japanese theories of art (and craft) often involve principles of harmony and balance. We might debate in America whether programming is an art or a craft, but if you’ve got one word for the same thing, you’re asking whether programming is an artcraft or an artcraft, and the answer, obviously, is ‘Yes, you idiot.’
Giles Bowkett http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-i-program-in-ruby-and-maybe-why-you.html
When working on a project and the need for a big change comes up, refactor additively, meaning add the stuff you need before removing anything existing. And keep the tests running and passing. This may not be the most efficient way to do things. You may have some duplication while you’re refactoring, but getting aggressive with deleting files has two bad side-effects: it makes subversion unhappy (you’ll probably find yourself using —force) and it makes it harder to diagnose failing tests. When all the new code is in place and the tests are passing, remove the old code slowly. And keep the tests running!!
