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Editor’s Letter Lean – Agile
Software
I’m so glad you downloaded the first issue of Development
AgileDevelopment magazine. I hope you are as excited as we Make sure your entire development team
are about the changes and the possibilities for the future. receives a consistent, integrated message
As you can see, the magazine is designed to be a virtual when learning Agility
whiteboard for the Agile Alliance. In its pages you will find in- Upcoming Courses
formation that is all relevant to the overall project we call Agile ScrumMaster Apr 19-20 Cupertino, CA
development. From features on delivering working software to Certification
May 2-3 Bellevue, WA
articles that show how individuals and interactions really are
May 23-24 Chicago, IL
valued above process and procedures, the concepts that were
Jun 28-29 San Francisco, CA
laid down five years ago in the now famous Agile Manifesto are
brought to life here. Aug 16-17 Bloomington, MN
Don’t miss our regular sections: Face-to-Face (events Sep 20-21 Cupertino, CA
where you can meet with peers and experts), Context (reviews Design Patterns Apr 11-13 Bellevue, WA
Explained
of books and articles that discuss Agile topics), User Stories Aug 15-17 Cupertino, CA
(tales from the Agile trenches), and Refactor (an Agile method Filling the Jun 7-8 Bloomington, MN
or process as seen from the perspective of hindsight). Customer Role
Aug 9-10 Cupertino, CA
in Agile
If you’d like to comment or contribute, please feel free to Projects
email me at editor@agilealliance.org. I’d love to hear from you. Lean Software Apr 19-20 Bellevue, WA
Development
Jun 1-2 San Jose, CA
Sincerely,
MagicDraw for Apr 24-28 Bellevue, WA
Developers
Test-Driven Jun 13-15 Bellevue, WA
ASP.NET
Test-Driven Jun 20-22 Cupertino, CA
Development
They say a journey of a thousand miles Scrum. As I read, I found myself scrutinizing that are often in the hundreds of pages. An
begins with a single step. Our path to Agile the way we currently were approaching average project lasts anywhere from three
started back in early 2005 when I received software development. I wondered if it was months to three years. We currently pro-
an invitation to a free half-day seminar on possible to make Agile work for our organi- gram in RPG IV. All of our testing is manual.
Scrum. Intrigued, I attended. After the semi- zation. (Hey, at least we test.) All this is to say that
we are about as far away from Agile as one
nar, my interest was peaked and the ball Who We Are
was officially in motion. can be—all the more reason why Scrum
As the Application Development and
My next step was to enroll in the could be such an important change for us
Support Manager for a large manufacturing
Certified ScrumMaster Training course pre- to make.
company, I am responsible for coordinat-
sented by Ken Schwaber and Esther Derby ing and managing the efforts of both our Where We’ve Been
in Milwaukee. I invited two of my team support team (help desk) and our project About a year ago, we began to ques-
members along so they, too, could learn development group. We support, maintain, tion the value in our process. We encour-
what Scrum was all about. The course gave and enhance some 3300, mostly internal, aged our IS Applications Group to do the
me a valuable head start, but I still wanted applications. same. Several years ago, we had very little
more information before I made a commit- We use the traditional waterfall ap- control or process—things were just short
ment to change. proach to our software development life- of a free-for-all when it came to making
To further my Agile education, I read cycle, with the requisite multiple hand-offs program changes and getting them into
Ken’s book, Agile Project Management with and business and technical specifications production. In response, we went to the
“The most comprehensive Agile Software Development training curriculum in the industry”
Currently offering courses in:
Lean Software Development Scrum Master Certification
Design Patterns Test-Driven Development / XP Programming
Agile Project Management The Customer Role in Agile Projects
help those of you who are interested but Agile2005 was a sellout. Don’t
unsure of how to approach Agile in your miss your opportunity to
organizations. If we can do it, anyone can. I attend Agile2006.
am truly convinced of that. Believe me—we
The Agile2006 Conference is an open forum exploring all agile methodologies,
are about as far away from Agile as the
including Extreme Programming (XP), Scrum, Crystal, FDD, DSDM and others.
North Pole is from the South Pole. You may With sessions for all roles including executives, managers, programmers and
have to stretch yourself and think outside testers, the conference is the place to go for balanced and up-to-the-minute
information.
the box but there are plenty of people and
resources available to help you along the Attend Agile2006 and learn how to deliver business value effectively by
adopting Agile Development principles.
way. You will never meet a greater group of
people than those who are involved in the REGISTER NOW! In cooperation Brought to you by:
Agile movement. Good luck to you. Save $300 when you register before May 15
www.Agile2006.org
XP promises relief from the pitfalls ming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd Edition, big risky release into two smaller releases.
of traditional development projects. But, to describe three stereotypical ways teams Still other toe dippers begin by working on
when you’re ready to test the XP waters, take the XP plunge: Toe Dip, Cannonball, XP individually if the team is not ready.
how do you begin moving from how you and Racing Dive. The sidebar “XP’s Safe Starts” (page
work today toward an XP style of develop- Toe Dip 18) lists thirteen practices that are safe
ment? You want to start in the right place, places to start (covered in detail in XP
Some people and teams value con-
convince the right people, and “do it right” Explained, 2nd Edition). Any one of these
tinuity. They don’t want to let go with one
so you can reap all the benefits. However, “places” will provide some immediate im-
hand before they have a firm hold with the
this need to “do it right” can keep many other. When they begin XP they introduce provement, with minimum risk.
teams from doing anything at all. XP is a one practice at a time. They firmly instill If you are a toe dipper, think about
way forward; a way to find the courage that one practice before adding the next, the area you would most like to improve,
to embrace the challenges of change. XP while the rest of their development process find the practice that addresses that issue,
starts when you start and where you start. remains intact. They are toe dippers. and implement it on a trial basis. After a
Eight years of observing and coach- The gradual path into XP has many month or two, evaluate the effects of this
ing the application of XP has convinced me entrances. Some toe dippers make a point change, barriers you met, and successes
that there are as many ways of starting and of programming together in a conference you had, and share your experiences with
sustaining change as there are ways to get room several hours a day. Others have your support community. Then, refine or
into a swimming pool. Let’s stick with that developers write some automated tests as repeat the process to add the next most
analogy, as introduced in Extreme Program- they code. Some start by simply dividing a valuable practice.
Cannonball the confidence boost the team gets from a cannonball results in lasting improve-
gaining control on their own are all good ment depends not only on how the team
Some teams want quick results and
reasons to try a cannonball. Some of the does its work but also on how the rest of
are willing to deal with the chaos of radi-
chaos of the cannonball is mitigated by the organization responds to their change.
cal change as long as they are in control
the synergies between the practices. For Outside support can encourage a team to
of the changes to their software process.
instance, the practice of developer-written stick with their changes long enough to
These are the teams that start doing every
tests is invaluable
XP practice they can at full throttle. The
when incrementally
result is, predictably for the short term,
improving the de- XP: Dive Right In. The Water’s Fine!
chaos; but it can be constructive chaos.
sign of the system. What You Get:
Everyone is learning new techniques
One of the • Fewer defects
every day and those techniques interact challenges of man- • More predictability
in unpredictable ways. Some days work aging the cannon- • Greater flexibility
smoothly. Others days are akin to driving ball is that groups • Closer conformance between delivered features
in bumper-to-bumper traffic. After a sharp and actual needs
outside the team
• Shorter lead time for new features
learning curve, things settle into a much quickly feel the
more highly interactive and refined team ripples (or in some How It Works:
that is able to leap small buildings in a cases, waves) from • There are weekly milestone releases, each of
single bound. They produce more, make the team’s changes. which is technically ready to deploy.
fewer mistakes, and have confidence in All of a sudden, • Programmers, testers, and business experts write
their ability to handle challenges. automated tests that are exercised continuously.
the team will ask
• The whole team sits together in an open work-
The cannonball is attractive when for communication space.
you want a fresh start and there won’t be sooner and more • Project information is up-to-date and prominently
any catastrophic effects from the ensu- directly than they displayed.
ing chaos. If you are beginning a release used to. They will
that’s scheduled to take nine months, for likely break exist- What’s Hard:
ing power chains, • The radical departure from the way some histori-
instance, a cannonball might be a good
cally have developed software
choice. Conversely, it is not a good choice skipping across the
• The creative management necessary for large proj-
if you have just two weeks left before organizational chart ects requiring more people than fit comfortably in
deployment. to find the informa- one room
Amplified positive interactions tion they need to • Taking active responsibility for your work
between practices, quick turnaround, and succeed. Whether
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After all,all,
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Freephone: 0800 028 5627 JOBS
www.connectionsrecruit.co.uk
www.business-agility.com/careers
and in the first instance call our advising consultant, Simon Voice at:
CONNECTIONS Connections Recruitment on 0118 989 7612 / 07774 626249
recruiting success and email your CV to: simonv@connectionsrecruit.co.uk