TDD, How to write tests that will compile even if objects don't exist

Question

I'm using VS 2012, but that's not really important.

What is important is that I'm trying to do some TDD by writing all my tests first and then creating the code.

However, the app will not compile because none of my objects or methods exist.

Now, to my mind, I should be able to create ALL my tests but still run my app so I can debug etc. The tests shouldn't prevent compilation because objects and methods are missing.

I thought the whole point of it was that as you develop your tests you can begin to see duplications etc so that you can refactor before writing a single line of code.

So the question is, is there a way to do this or am I doing this wrong?

EDIT I am using VS2012 and C#

Answer 1

I see a small problem with

writing all my tests first and then creating the code.

You don't need to write ALL your tests first, you just need one, make it fail, make it pass and repeat. That means ideally at any point you should have ideally one failing test.

A compile failure counts as a failed test in that sense. So the next step is to make it pass - i.e. add stubs or return default values to make it compile. The test would then be red.. then work at getting it to green.