Development Methodologies

Design before code, test before ship — SDD and TDD workflows from real 4WP plugins, not textbook theory.

Methodologies answer how you work before and during coding. This is not Architecture (patterns) and not Development (WP API).

The 4WP workflow chain

SDD → DDD → TDD → implementation → refactor — design fixes flow, domain models structure, tests verify behavior.

SDD

Software Design Document — requirements, architecture, data flow, and implementation order before the first line of code.

Case study: 4WP Analytics Dashboard — provider registry, REST-first blocks, access-before-data flow.

Explore SDD

TDD

Test-Driven Development — PHPUnit, WordPress test suite, red-green-refactor to verify plugin behavior before refactoring.

Design fixes flow → TDD fixes behavior. Not the same as SOLID or architecture patterns.

TDD guide