Add daily email for 2024-10-20

Test, then refactor

source/_daily_emails/2024-10-20.md

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+---
+title: Test, then refactor
+date: 2024-10-20
+permalink: daily/2024/10/20/test-then-refactor
+tags:
+  - software-development
+  - refactoring
+  - test-driven-development
+  - automated-testing
+cta: ~
+snippet: |
+  Do you make sure you have automated tests before you refactor?
+---
+
+[Whether you prefer PHPUnit or Pest PHP][0], or if you're coding in a different language, it's important to have automated tests - especially before you refactor any code.
+
+Before you refactor, you want to have passing tests that you're confident cover all the required functionality.
+
+When you finish refactoring, the tests should still pass.
+
+Then you know the functionality is the same and the code still works after it's been refactored.
+
+If you don't have tests, how do you know everything still works, or how likely are you to do the refactor at all?
+
+[0]: {{site.url}}/daily/2024/10/19/phpunit-or-pest