Introduction to Agile/Extreme Programming
Posted by bsstahl on 2006-05-08 and Filed Under: event development
This session was given by Josh Knowles who gave a good overview of Agile methodologies. There wasn't much new for me here, but Josh did give some good selling-points for these types of methods, and did solidify a few concepts for me. Primarily, the keys to Agile development are as Josh described them:
- Individuals & Interactions over Process and Tools
- Working Software over Documentation
- Constant Collaboration
- The ability to respond to change rapidly
Some ways to accomplish these things include:
- Short release cycles (i.e. Quarterly)
- Refactoring - Don't Repeat Yourself
- "Spike" unknowns - Reduce Second-Order Ignorance
- Stories should be told on Note Cards - Keep 'em Short
Some tools at our disposal:
- nAnt - An automated build tool
- CruiseControl.net - An integration tool
- Subversion - A freeware Source-Control System that Josh likes better than VSS
I'll post links to some of these slide-decks as I get them.