Doing TDD has become a way of life for me. One the one hand tests are the security net that lets me refactor my code, but is also a restricting force when it comes to changing code. Experience has showed that when I refactor, I also break a lot of tests that’s not relevant for the thing that has been changed. And the reason for this is usually set up of test data that has been scattered through my tests.
It’s not that setting up test data is that difficult, but unless you are structured and focus on not duplicating setup you will get into a mess. I found this interesting article at DZone describing a technique called Test Data Builders. Interesting idea I need to check out.