Nothing can excuse testing a non-solution, so I won't defend it. But correct code, code that does solve your problem, isn't always pretty: sometimes it's straw instead of gold. And testing is orthogonal: you can write untested gold, untested straw, tested straw, or tested gold. Sometimes you're lucky and untested gold bursts fully-formed like Athena from the head of Zeus. Otherwise, be glad for testing, which lets you turn untested straw into tested straw, and thence, via a refactoring Rumpelstiltskin, to tested gold.