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Paradigms Every Beginner Should Know Before Learning Shift Left

· 5 min read
Serhii Hrekov
Serhii Hrekov
software engineer, creator, artist, programmer, projects founder

Before diving into Shift Left, which emphasizes catching bugs, performance, and security issues early in the software development lifecycle, it’s important for new programmers to learn the foundational paradigms that support this philosophy.

These paradigms teach early thinking, good code hygiene, and automation - all of which are building blocks of effective software engineering.

Here explained what actually is Shift Left Paradigm in Programming, any beginner will understand

Test-Driven Development (TDD)​

“Write the test first, then write the code.”

TDD encourages writing tests before writing any actual business logic.

Why it matters​

  • Forces you to understand requirements clearly
  • Improves code modularity and maintainability
  • Promotes safer refactoring

Example in Python​

def add(a, b):
    return a + b

def test_add():
    assert add(2, 3) == 5

📚 Resources:

Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)​

“Describe how the system should behave before coding it.”

BDD makes tests more human-readable using natural language. It's especially useful when working with non-technical stakeholders.

📚 Resources:

Continuous Integration (CI)​

“Test early and often with every change.”

CI tools automatically run your tests when you push code to version control (like GitHub). This minimizes integration problems and helps identify bugs early.

Example​

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: Run Tests
on: [push]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run pytest
        run: |
          pip install pytest
          pytest

📚 Resources:

Static Code Analysis​

“Catch bugs without even running the code.”

Static analysis tools review your code to detect errors, style issues, and type mismatches.

Tools for Python​

Example​

def greet(name: str) -> str:
    return "Hello " + name

# Running mypy will verify the type annotations

Secure by Design (Security Shift Left)​

“Security is not an afterthought.”

Shift Left also applies to security. Beginner developers often leave security concerns until it's too late. Using tools to check dependencies and code security is crucial.

📚 Tools:

Fail Fast Principle​

“Crash loudly and early.”

This encourages writing code that immediately stops execution when something unexpected happens - rather than silently failing.

Example​

def divide(a: int, b: int) -> float:
    assert b != 0, "Cannot divide by zero"
    return a / b

📚 Reading:

Summary Table​

ParadigmKey Concept
TDDWrite tests before code
BDDBehavior-focused, human-readable tests
CIAuto-run tests on every code change
Static AnalysisCheck code before running
Security Shift LeftBuild security from day one
Fail FastCatch bugs and problems early during runtime

Final Thoughts​

These paradigms create the mental model necessary for adopting Shift Left. Once you're comfortable writing tests early, setting up CI, and thinking defensively about security and types, the Shift Left methodology will feel natural rather than overwhelming.

Further Reading​