Let's install your Quality Coding code snippets

Hi there,

I’m Jon Reid, and I want to welcome you to Quality Coding.

Any coder can hack out programs that “work” at first. But will you be able to easily modify it over many years, or across multiple projects? That’s why I write on unit testing, test-driven development, and refactoring/design. If you’re ever frustrated by touchy code that’s hard to change, or interested in unit testing but afraid it would slow you down — then Quality Coding is especially for you.

I’ll get to your free code snippets down below. First, let me share my background so you know where I’m coming from.

I was once on a team responsible for maintaining a touchy Mac/Windows framework used by a Fortune 100 company. Successful changes became harder, slower, more buggy, and scary. Eventually, the entire team was let go.

But while I was still at that chaotic job, I began carving out areas of safety:

• I started writing coding tips for my colleagues.
• I learned about object-oriented design (OOD, like design patterns).
• I learned about Extreme Programming (XP). This got me going on test-driven development (TDD) and refactoring.

Then Apple acquiring NeXT and switching to Cocoa changed my career:

• In 2005, I started doing TDD in Objective-C for macOS. In 2010, I began iOS development (using TDD, of course). In 2016, I started doing TDD in Swift.
• In 2020 I published my book iOS Unit Testing by Example: XCTest Tips and Techniques Using Swift.
• Now I’m a technical agile coach, helping software teams work effectively with their code and with each other.

My goal is to equip you with practical approaches you can put to work in your iOS coding. I want you to experience the joy of becoming more effective.

Now, on to the code snippets you requested. Download them here:

I actually have another download I’d also like to send you. I use customized file templates to create new XCTest suites. Every Thursday for 4 weeks, I’ll send you a short email I call Quick Tips. If we were working together, these are the things I’d recommend we start doing in your projects. The 4th email has that extra download of XCTest file templates, so stick around. (If you don’t want Quick Tips, click “Update preferences” below.)

What else? As a subscriber, you’ll get new articles, updates to the code snippets, and info about training opportunities. I send a new email once a month if I’m really productive. More likely, it will be every couple of months.

…Back to your code snippets download: Look over the README. It has instructions on how to install them, and documentation about what’s in there. And feel free to reply to this email if you have any questions.

P.S. See my links below for any platforms or social media you use