TDD and Unit-Testing for Python Developers

A few days ago, I gave a 1:30 hours long talk (in Hebrew) in my company about TDD and Unit-Testing for python developers.

The idea was to focus both on what is TDD, including a 45 minutes demo, and to give some concrete tips for unit-testing in python.

Usually when I give a talk about TDD, I use some kind of simple kata as a demo, like the prime factors kata of Uncle Bob. The problem with that, is I usually get responses like "TDD works only for calculators examples". I tried to be a little more original here and demonstrate a more real-life like example, and I tried not to come prepared too much, so I could demonstrate a genuine way of thinking about the design and letting it drive my code.
Looking back, I think this caused the demo to be a little messy - I told the audience to participate and throw ideas in the middle, and this caused things to advanced a little bit too slowly, and we didn't really get to real value by the end of the demo (as opposed to using a simple kata when you get value by the end of 5-10 tests).

For the tips sections, I took most of the material from Michael Foord's great blog and mocking framework: http://www.voidspace.org.uk/, and I think it should be very useful. So thank you for that Michael!

Anyhow, apart from the messy demo - which I think is still educational - I feel like the talk went fine, and decided to share it.

The Talk
Here's an unedited screen and sound capture of the talk, for the Hebrew speakers of you.

If you can't watch it through this shaky flash plugin, you can download it from here

Getting started with iOS development

So... In the last couple of weeks, I've been researching iOS development - reading some blogs, going to some lectures or watching them on iTunes U, searching for answers to common questions on stackoverflow, etc.
This doesn't make me an expert on the subject, but I think if like me - you're thinking about starting with iOS development or mobile development in general, this post might save you some time and make sure you're not missing any of the important technologies available today (August 2011), and the information you need to know in order to get started.

Before You Start...

Do I have to own a Mac in order to develop for iOS?

• In a word: YES.
• There might be frameworks that will let you develop the applications without a Mac, but when you'll want to deploy on a real device, or to the app-store, you're going to need a Mac for that.
• Even if you succeeded in creating a Hackintosh on a VM (I personally had a really hard time trying to do so...), it is not recommended - as you are going to have troubles once you'll need to update your software/OS version, etc.
• I tried to find online solutions for "Mac for rent", and found macincloud.com, but 2 days after sending a request for a trial they announced they closed the site for new users.