Agile software development

Agile software development From Wikipedia Agile software development Agile software development is a conceptual framework for software engineering that promotes development iterations throughout the life-cycle of the project. There are many agile development methods; most attempt to minimize risk by developing software in short time frames, called iterations, from one to four weeks. Each iteration is a small software project of its own: including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, testing, and documentation. …the goal is to have an available release (without bugs) at the end of each iteration. ... At the end of each iteration, the team re-evaluates project priorities. Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 2

Agile software development continues… From Wikipedia Agile software development continues… Agile methods emphasize face-to-face communication over written documents. Most agile teams are located in a single open office. At a minimum, this includes programmers and their "customers" (customers are the people who define the product; they may be product managers, business analysts, or actual customers). The office may include testers, interaction designers, technical writers, and managers. Agile methods also emphasize working software as the primary measure of progress. Combined with the preference for face-to-face communication, agile methods produce very little written documentation relative to other methods. This has resulted in criticism of agile methods as being undisciplined… The modern definition of agile software development evolved in the mid 1990s as part of a reaction against "heavyweight" methods, as typified by a heavily regulated, regimented, micro-managed use of the waterfall model of development. …Initially, agile methods were called "lightweight methods." In 2001, prominent members… adopted the name "agile methods.“… Early agile method … include Extreme Programming (1996)... While it was not the first agile method, Extreme Programming (usually abbreviated as "XP") established the popularity of agile methods. Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 3

Some of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto are: From Wikipedia Some of the principles behind the Agile Manifesto are: Customer satisfaction by rapid, continuous delivery of useful software Working software is delivered frequently (weeks rather than months) Working software is the principal measure of progress Even late changes in requirements are welcomed Close, daily, cooperation between business people and developers Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design Simplicity Self-organizing teams Regular adaptation to changing circumstances Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 4

Four values [1] Communication –“problems with projects can invariably be traced to somebody not talking to somebody else about something important” Simplicity –“what is the simplest thing that could possibly work?” Feedback –Put system in production ASAP –“Have you written a test case for that yet?” Courage –Always proceed with courage. Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 5

Extreme Programming (XP) Basic ideas [2] Was put together as a response to the increasing difficulty of practicing heavyweight methodologies, especially in medium and small projects Has very few rules and practices Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 6

Fundamentals of XP [1] The customer is always available, as part of the development team. On site, face-to-face communication with the customer in all phases. Simplistic: Keep the design as simple as possible, design for today-not tomorrow. Code the unit test first before writing production code and keep all tests running. Pair programming Very short iterations (of fixed length). Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 7

A few terms [1] User stories serve the same purpose as use cases but are not the same. They are used to create time estimates for the release planning meeting. User Stories are written by the customer. An architectural spike solution is a very simple program to explore potential solutions. Choose a system metaphor to keep the team on the same page by naming classes and methods consistently. Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 8

Life cycle of an XP project Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 9

Organizational aspects [1] Pair programming: All code is created by two people working together at a single computer. Person 1: writes the code. Person 2: thinks about the test cases, improvements etc. Move people around and change pairs. Training on the job, everybody knows about everything. Collective code ownership: Any developer can change any line of code to add functionality, fix bugs or refactor. A daily stand-up meeting starts each day. Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 10

Some References [1] Parastoo Mohagheghi [2] http://www.sensi.org/~ak/impit/studies/xp-presentation-complete.ppt Agile software development, UiA, Jan Pettersen Nytun, 23 May, 2019, page 11