# Specification by Example: How Successful Teams Deliver the Right Software by [[Gojko Adzic]] ## Summary <!-- a couple of paragraphs --> Gojko Adzic's *Specification by Example* distills patterns from dozens of teams that successfully used concrete examples to specify, build, and verify software. Rather than writing abstract requirements documents that drift from the code, these teams collaborate to capture realistic examples of desired behavior, refine them into precise specifications, and automate them as tests. The examples thus become a single source of truth that is both human-readable and machine-executable. The book organizes the practice into a set of process patterns: deriving scope from business goals, specifying collaboratively (the "three amigos" of business, development, and testing), illustrating with examples, refining specifications, automating validation, and evolving a trusted body of "living documentation" that stays accurate because the build fails when it diverges. It is the foundational text for what later became known as behavior-driven and example-driven development, and remains the canonical reference for turning intent into executable acceptance criteria. ## Table of Contents - Ch. 1 — Key benefits - Ch. 2 — Key process patterns - Ch. 3 — Living documentation - Ch. 4 — Initiating the changes - Ch. 5 — Deriving scope from goals - Ch. 6 — Specifying collaboratively (Three Amigos) - Ch. 7 — Illustrating using examples - Ch. 8 — Refining the specification - Ch. 9 — Automating validation without changing specifications - Ch. 10 — Validating frequently - Ch. 11 — Evolving a documentation system ## Notes <!-- main takeaways; LINK to the permanent notes this book grounds --> - Canonical grounding for [[Specification by Example]] as a practice. - Grounds [[Deriving Scope from Goals]] — starting specs from business intent. - Backs the [[Three Amigos]] collaboration pattern. - Underpins [[Living Documentation]] — specs that stay accurate because they are executed. - Grounds the [[Executable Acceptance Criterion]] and its expression as a [[Gherkin Scenario]]. ## Quotes - <!-- placeholder: add a verified short quote here --> ## Relevance to the course - Primary grounding for Module 3 — spec-driven development, collaborative specification, and executable acceptance criteria. --- ## References -