Red, Green, Refactor (or Test Driven Development)

This repo contains my work in practicing TDD for some recent algorithm programming I started. I'm going through this process for two reasons:

1. I was curious about something and wanted to figure out the answer.
2. I thought it would be a good chance to practice some TDD.

What's the Algorithm Behind "Proper Urinal Etiquette"?

I saw the video Proper Urinal Etiquette and enjoyed it's tongue-and-cheek treatment of a subject that is well known to those who utilize urinals. That is, "Which one do I use?" Or in other words: "How can I provide as much privacy for myself and the other people in the bathroom during the process of elimination?"

Later, I realized that I didn't understand some of the underlying rules used to determine the suggestions for the more complex situations in the video, and I wondered if I could come up with a simple expression of the etiquette algorithm. With my interest in software, I thought trying to program the algorithm would be a fun way to arrive at the solution.

Because programming the algorithm would necessitate several iterations, it seemed like a natural fit for Test Driven Development. I've also been wanting to practice more TDD myself. I don't often use it on my personal projects because they tend to be one-off applications. While TDD offers many benefits, being able to validate software as it goes through different versions is one obvious benefit that's not utilized if the project doesn't change. On the other hand, this project clearly utilizes that benefit so it's a perfect fit!

My Process

I started writing tests for each example shown in the video. After each test, I added code to my algorithm function so that it would choose the correct urinal based on the situation given. After it passed the test (and all previous tests), I refactored to organize, simplify, and explain the code better.

This process is known as Red, Green, Refactor because initially each test will usually fail - showing up red in many IDE's - since no code has been added to fulfill its requirements. After adding code to complete the task under test, the test will turn green. Likely, there will be something that can be improved about the code at this point and so it should be refactored.

What I Hope to Gain

Besides getting a clear picture for the etiquette algorithm in the video - my initial goal - I'm trying to develop a habit of TDD through this project. Some things just need to be ingrained into muscle memory through repetition and I think the Red, Green, Refactor process is one of them.

Fun Stuff

There are a few fun things in the video Proper Urinal Etiquette that might only be noticed if you're paying close attention or if you watch the video several times (like I did for this project):

1. There are a couple humorous characters used in the examples - I noticed a person in a gorilla suit, and an extraterrestrial in a space suit.
2. The case of #2 and #3 beign occupied is addressed twice with different advice. At 2:33 it's choose 1 or 5, and at the end it suggests 4 as the only option. (I went with the former.)