Changing how one thinks

Ovid on 2003-02-14T22:27:36

Bob:  There's a development version of FOO that implements feature X.
Ovid: Yes, but it's a development version and we're putting together a production product.
Bob:  But having X would really be nice.
Ovid: Adding X is only a few minutes of work and I'm almost done.
Bob:  But I'll need to check if that breaks Y.
Ovid: No you don't. We have over 900 tests for the system. I'll find out right away
Bob:  Oh, yeah.

Testing changes your entire development process. It's so easy to get things done with proper tests, but how does one change a given mindset? Don't get me wrong, Bob is a pretty smart guy and I'm very happy with the code he puts out, but sometimes old habits are hard to break.