Session 2

XP Practices

810:188
Agile Software Development

Opening Discussion

Chapter 2 of your reading assignment for today outlines the practices of extreme programming (XP).

• Which of the practices do you most want to try?
• Which do you most want not to try?
• Which of the practices do you think you understand reasonably well, from the reading and from your experience?
• Which do you think you have the most to learn about?

Some answers: ...

More on "Agile" Development

Yesterday, we discussed the characteristics of a great software team. Your answers covered the space well: Great teams deliver reliable software on schedule and under budget. They communicate closely with their customer. They work with a set of well-defined goals.

The question then becomes, "What are characteristics of a great agile software development team?" Let's start this semester with three:

• They have the ability to deliver working, tested software at a regular pace indefinitely.
• They have mastered the art of adapting their process to the needs of their environment.
• They distribute knowledge so that any one person can leave the team without affecting the team's productivity any more than any other person leaving.

The first of these means that the team has flattened the cost-of-change curve. The second means that the team address problems with its process as it identifies them, and makes changes to improve. The third means that the team can adapt to changes even its own make-up.

The agile practices you read about for today aim to achieve the characteristics of all great software teams, as well as the higher standard set for agile teams.

Mechanics of the Course

project
  - 1 team working on the same project
  - I will serve as customer, coach, and occasional programmer
  - 3 iterations, one per week
  - weekly planning and debriefing sessions
  - daily (stand-up) meetings
  * meet in 335 as our studio

team tools
  - programming language
    - Java .. Ruby
  - wiki

software tools
  - version control
  - unit testing
  - refactoring
  - automated build

time expectations: 4-6 hours a day out of class
work expectations: gotta do this stuff

The decision is... Ruby.

Wrap Up

• Reading. The Test-First Stoplight


• Programming. Install Ruby on your laptop. Then: Study Ruby.


• Homework. Study Ruby.