# Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests by Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce

2 Hacker News commenters recommended Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests by Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as the best book on test-driven development for non-trivial projects, and one commenter says their own LLM-era approach follows its method.

## Why people recommend it

- Best TDD book for non-trivial projects (1 comments): "The best "let's do something not trivial" TDD book is probably still" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47609686))
- Approach aligns with a practitioner's method (1 comments): "My approach (with LLMs especially) aligns more with what's outlined in" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48422491))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/crafting-interpreters.md): 60 recommend
- [Clean Code by Robert C. Martin](https://hackerapproved.com/p/clean-code.md): 31 recommend
- [The Pragmatic Programmer by Hunt and Thomas](https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatic-programmer.md): 28 recommend
- [How to Design Programs by Felleisen, Findler, Flatt and Krishnamurthi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-design-programs.md): 18 recommend
- [Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mastering-emacs.md): 17 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0321503627?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780321503626) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Growing Object-Oriented Software, Guided by Tests by Steve Freeman and Nat Pryce", https://hackerapproved.com/p/growing-object-oriented-software-guided/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).