Exploring Extreme Programming
“Iterative Enhancement” is a model for iterative development, from Basili & Turner, described in 1975 (!). We’ll look at it, and compare it to XP’s approach. I’ve seen occasional mention of this paper in people writing about evolutionary design or Continue reading Iterative Enhancement and XP-Style Design
A user story is a scenario, a description of a (potential) real use of a system. It takes the customer or user perspective, and represents a team’s shared understanding of what the system should do. Because stories take a customer Continue reading What Is a User Story?
Would-be agile teams sometimes get stuck in half-waterfall, a combination of waterfall and agile. Half-waterfall has the costs of both agile and waterfall approaches, but may not get enough benefit to offset the extra cost. Or, it may be a Continue reading Half-Waterfall: Extra Cost, Uncertain Benefits
Building Evolutionary Architectures: Support Constant Change, by Neal Ford, Rebecca Parson, and Patrick Kua. 2017. ISBN 1491986360. This book focuses on evolvability of software, treating it as a top-level architectural concern. “An evolutionary architecture supports guided, incremental change across multiple dimensions.” Continue reading Review: Building Evolutionary Architectures
Rather than focusing on “splitting” a story, figure out a minimal form of a story, and intensify it – make it more powerful or desirable. We’ll explore one dimension, prediction: how can we make a story better by improving how the Continue reading Intensifying Stories Through Prediction
Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams,by Diana Larsen and Ainsley Nies. Pragmatic Programmer, 2016. ISBN 978-1680501636. When I visit teams, I often ask them to describe what the project is trying to accomplish, from its sponsors’ viewpoint. Most teams Continue reading Liftoff: Start and Sustain Successful Agile Teams (Review)
I’m calling this “Resources on Agile Testing” but I’m not drawing a very sharp line about what’s Agile Testing vs. Good Testing. Further suggestions are welcome! Related resource summaries: BDD and TDD. Exercises (None identified) E-Learning Kaner, Cem. Black-Box Software Continue reading Resources on Agile Testing
The System Metaphor is one of the less popular parts of Extreme Programming (XP). Newer descriptions often even omit it. But metaphor is useful – when you have a good one, it really helps you understand and organize your system. Continue reading The System Metaphor Explored
French translation The INVEST model is a reminder of the important characteristics of user stories, and it starts with I for Independent. Independent stories each describe different aspects of a system’s capabilities. They are easier to work with because each Continue reading Independent Stories in the INVEST Model
We held a “Fringe” session at Agile 2011 to discuss how people charter or kick off projects. Elements of “Kickoff” [These are in no particular order.] Vision Release Criteria Success Criteria From and To State Business capability Solution vision Risks Continue reading The Vision Thing: How Do You Charter? #agile2011