Unit tests have sometimes been a great help, especially for regression tests, but they can get in the way, especially if you actually want to ship.
I can see the benefits of getting the 1.0 to market first (if buggy), getting some market share and using that lead time to either iron out the bugs or to rewrite so you don't have to put up with duct tape maintenance.
I've been in a situation where the users started using the prototype because, despite being buggy as hell, it did stuff light years ahead of what they had before. So imo duct tape 1.0 is ok.
I don't see from your argument how unit tests keep you from shipping. You can still choose to ship a product with failing tests. The difference is now you know what (some of) the bugs are.
Comments
Unit tests have sometimes been a great help, especially for regression tests, but they can get in the way, especially if you actually want to ship.
I can see the benefits of getting the 1.0 to market first (if buggy), getting some market share and using that lead time to either iron out the bugs or to rewrite so you don't have to put up with duct tape maintenance.
I've been in a situation where the users started using the prototype because, despite being buggy as hell, it did stuff light years ahead of what they had before. So imo duct tape 1.0 is ok.
I don't see from your argument how unit tests keep you from shipping. You can still choose to ship a product with failing tests. The difference is now you know what (some of) the bugs are.