Par Sylvain Chery - Agile Partner

1. A brief introduction to
Agile Methods
Agile Interest Group Luxembourg
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

2. Agile Manifesto
● Emerged in February 2001 as an alternative to
documentation driven, heavyweight software
development processes
We are uncovering better ways of developing
software by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

3. Principles behind Agile Manifesto
● The highest priority is customer satisfaction
through early, frequent and continuous delivery of
valuable software.
● Changing requirements are welcome, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change for
the customer's competitive advantage.
● Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

4. Principles behind Agile Manifesto
● Build projects around motivated individuals.
Support them, and trust them to get the job done.
● The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face conversation.
● Working software is the primary measure of
progress.
● Sustainable development: the sponsors,
developers, and users should be able to maintain
a constant pace indefinitely.
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

5. Principles behind Agile Manifesto
● Continuous attention to technical excellence and
good design.
● Simplicity: the art of maximizing the amount of
work not done
● The best architectures, requirements, and
designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
● Inspect and adapt: at regular intervals, the team
reflects on how to become more effective, then
tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

6. Which agile methods ?
● “State of Agile Development” survey - July 2008
– 2319 companies, 80 countries
– Software teams from 5 to 250 members
Source: VersionOne
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

7. Scrum and XP
● Scrum is a (SW) project management method
– Scrum is a project organisational framework
● XP is a software development method
– XP focuses on engineering practices
● Both methods are
– Empirical and adaptive (vs. defined and
predictive)
– Focused on real (changing) customer needs
– Emphasising team performance ( more product
in less time with greater quality)
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

8. History
● Scrum
– Originates in Japan (1986):
● Takeuchi and Nonaka, Hyper-productive
development processes
– Later formalised in the USA:
● Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (OOP
conference in Austin, 1995)
● Mike Beedle and Ken Schwaber (Agile Software
development with SCRUM, 2001)
● XP
– Introduced by Kent Beck in 1996 (Chrysler C3)
– First formalised as a methodology in 2000
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

9. Optional scope
● 'Optional Scope' approach: the art of the possible
– Project variables
Classic project Cost Quality
Cost Quality
Time Scope
Time Scope Agile project
– Scope provides the most valuable form of control
● Guaranteed cost and delivery date
● High quality (few bugs, high flexibility, modularity)
● Product guaranteed to be in-line with real business needs
(as opposed to in-line with original specifications)
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

10. Overview of Scrum process
● Scrum is a process skeleton
– Predefined roles and artifacts
– Set of recommended practices
● Process is organised in short iterative cycles
(sprints)
– Requirements are
“frozen” during sprint Stand-up meeting
(daily scrum)
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

11. Scrum practices
● The four 3's of Scrum
– Three roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master, Team
– Three artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog,
Burdown Chart
– Three ceremonies: Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum,
Sprint Demo
– Three best practices: User Stories, Planning Poker,
Scrum Board
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

12. Overview of XP practices
● XP is build around 12 practices
– Small releases – Continuous integration
– Planning Game – On-site customer
– Tests – 40 hour week
– Refactoring – Coding standards
– Simple design – Metaphor
– Pair Programming
– Collective code
ownership
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

13. Overview of XP practices
● Practices are not revolutionary
– Often inspired / picked from successful elements of
classical project management methods
– XP pushes each practice to the maximum (eXtreme)
● Practices work together
– The effect of all practices together is far greater than
the sum of individual practices
– Note: This does not mean that all practices are
required for XP to work !
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010

14. XP values
● All XP practices share 5 common values
Communication
Respect Simplicity
Courage Feedback
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Introduction to Agile Methods © Agile Interest Group Luxembourg 2010