Chapter 3
the principles of agile methods
- customer involvement - incremental delivery - people not process - embrace change - maintain simplicity
extreme programming release cycle
- select user stories for this release - breakdown stories to tasks - plan release - develop/ integrate/ test software - release software - evaluate system * start over
Extreme programming practices: refactoring
All developers are expected to refactor the code continuously as soon as possible code improvements are found. This keeps the code simple and maintainable.
Extreme programming practices: test-first development
An automated unit test framework is used to write tests for a new piece of functionality before that functionality itself is implemented.
agile principle: embrace change
Expect the system requirements to change and so design the system to accommodate these changes.
refactoring
Conventional wisdom in software engineering is to design for change. It is worth spending time and effort anticipating changes as this reduces costs later in the life cycle. XP, however, maintains that this is not worthwhile as changes cannot be reliably anticipated. Rather, it proposes constant code improvement (refactoring) to make changes easier when they have to be implemented. Programming team look for possible software improvements and make these improvements even where there is no immediate need for them. This improves the understandability of the software and so reduces the need for documentation. Changes are easier to make because the code is wellstructured and clear. However, some changes requires architecture refactoring and this is much more expensive.
Extreme programming practices: pair programming
Developers work in pairs, checking each other's work and providing the support to always do a good job - people not process through pair programming, collective ownership and a process that avoids long working hours
Agile methods
Dissatisfaction with the overheads involved in software design methods of the 1980s and 1990s led to the creation of agile methods. These methods: → Focus on the code rather than the design → Are based on an iterative approach to software development → Are intended to deliver working software quickly and evolve this quickly to meet changing requirements. The aim of agile methods is to reduce overheads in the software process (e.g. by limiting documentation) and to be able to respond quickly to changing requirements without excessive rework.
What agile fundamentals are important to maintain when scaling agile methods
Flexible planning, frequent system releases, continuous integration, test-driven development and good team communications.
plan driven VS agile development
Plan-driven development →A plan-driven approach to software engineering is based around separate development stages with the outputs to be produced at each of these stages planned in advance. →Not necessarily waterfall model - plan-driven, incremental development is possible →Iteration occurs within activities. Agile development → Specification, design, implementation and testing are interleaved and the outputs from the development process are decided through a process of negotiation during the software development process
agile principles and organizational practices: embrace change
Prioritizing changes can be extremely difficult, especially in systems for which there are many stakeholders. Typically, each stakeholder gives different priorities to different changes.
Scrum sprint cycle
Sprints are fixed length, normally 2-4 weeks. The starting point for planning is the product backlog, which is the list of work to be done on the project. The selection phase involves all of the project team who work with the customer to select the features and functionality from the product backlog to be developed during the sprint. Once these are agreed, the team organize themselves to develop the software. During this stage the team is isolated from the customer and the organization, with all communications channelled through the so-called 'Scrum master'. The role of the Scrum master is to protect the development team from external distractions. At the end of the sprint, the work done is reviewed and presented to stakeholders. The next sprint cycle then begins.
test automation
Test automation means that tests are written as executable components before the task is implemented → These testing components should be stand-alone, should simulate the submission of input to be tested and should check that the result meets the output specification. An automated test framework (e.g. Junit) is a system that makes it easy to write executable tests and submit a set of tests for execution. As testing is automated, there is always a set of tests that can be quickly and easily executed → Whenever any functionality is added to the system, the tests can be run and problems that the new code has introduced can be caught immediately.
agile principles and organizational practices: customer involvement
This depends on having a customer who is willing and able to spend time with the development team and who can represent all system stakeholders. Often, customer representatives have other demands on their time and cannot play a full part in the software development. Where there are external stakeholders, such as regulators, it is difficult to represent their views to the agile team.
agile principles and organizational practices: maintain simplicity
Under pressure from delivery schedules, team members may not have time to carry out desirable system simplifications.
Agile manefesto
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.
test driven development
Writing tests before code clarifies the requirements to be implemented. Tests are written as programs rather than data so that they can be executed automatically. The test includes a check that it has executed correctly. Usually relies on a testing framework such as Junit. All previous and new tests are run automatically when new functionality is added, thus checking that the new functionality has not introduced errors.
scaling out
concerned with how agile methods can be introduced across a large organization with many years of software development experience
scaling up
concerned with using agile methods for developing large software system that cannot be developed by a small system
agile principle: customer involvement
customers should be closely involved throughout the development process. Their role is provide and prioritize new system requirements and to evaluate the iterations of the system
agile principle: maintain simplicity
Focus on simplicity in both the software being developed and in the development process. Wherever possible, actively work to eliminate complexity from the system.
Extreme programming practices: sustainable pace
Large amounts of overtime are not considered acceptable as the net effect is often to reduce code quality and medium term productivity
Teamwork in scrum
The 'Scrum master' is a facilitator who arranges daily meetings, tracks the backlog of work to be done, records decisions, measures progress against the backlog and communicates with customers and management outside of the team. The whole team attends short daily meetings (Scrums) where all team members share information, describe their progress since the last meeting, problems that have arisen and what is planned for the following day. → This means that everyone on the team knows what is going on and, if problems arise, can re-plan short-term work to cope with them.
practical problems with agile methods
The informality of agile development is incompatible with the legal approach to contract definition that is commonly used in large companies. Agile methods are most appropriate for new software development rather than software maintenance. Yet the majority of software costs in large companies come from maintaining their existing software systems. Agile methods are designed for small co-located teams yet much software development now involves worldwide distributed teams.
Extreme programming practices: small releases
The minimal useful set of functionality that provides business value is developed first. Releases of the system are frequent and incrementally add functionality to the first release. - change is supported through regular system releases
distributed scrum
the scrum master should be located with the development team so that he or she is aware of everyday problems the product manager should visit the developers and try to establish a good relationship with them. it is essential that they trust each other real time communications between team members for informal communication, particularly instant messaging and video calls continuous integration so that all team members can be aware of the state of the product at any time a common development environment for all items videoconferencing between the product owner and the development team
agile and plan based factors system issues
type → what type of system is being developed? - systems that require a lot of analysis before implementation need a fairly detailed design to carry out this analysis lifetime → what is the expected system lifetime - long lifetime systems require documentation to communicate the intentions of the system developers to the support team scale → how large is the system being developed - agile methods are most effective a relatively small co located team who can communicate informally regulation → is the system subject to external regulation - if a system is regulated you will probably be required to produce detailed documentation as part of the system safety case
Scrum technology: scrum
A daily meeting of the Scrum team that reviews progress and prioritizes work to be done that day. Ideally, this should be a short face-to-face meeting that includes the whole team.
Scrum technology: sprint
A development iteration. Sprints are usually 2-4 weeks long.
most projects include elements of plan driven and agile processes. Deciding on which depends on:
Is it important to have a very detailed specification and design before moving to implementation? If so, you probably need to use a plan-driven approach. Is an incremental delivery strategy, where you deliver the software to customers and get rapid feedback from them, realistic? If so, consider using agile methods. How large is the system that is being developed? Agile methods are most effective when the system can be developed with a small co-located team who can communicate informally. This may not be possible for large systems that require larger development teams so a plan-driven approach may have to be used.
problems with first time development
Programmers prefer programming to testing and sometimes they take short cuts when writing tests. For example, they may write incomplete tests that do not check for all possible exceptions that may occur. Some tests can be very difficult to write incrementally. For example, in a complex user interface, it is often difficult to write unit tests for the code that implements the 'display logic' and workflow between screens. It difficult to judge the completeness of a set of tests. Although you may have a lot of system tests, your test set may not provide complete coverage.
agile principles and organizational practices: incremental delivery
Rapid iterations and short-term planning for development does not always fit in with the longer-term planning cycles of business planning and marketing. Marketing managers may need to know what product features several months in advance to prepare an effective marketing campaign.
Extreme programming practices: incremental planning
Requirements are recorded on story cards and the stories to be included in a release are determined by the time available and their relative priority. The developers break these stories into development 'Tasks' - supported through small, frequent system releases
Scrum
Scrum is an agile method that focuses on managing iterative development rather than specific agile practices. There are three phases in Scrum. → The initial phase is an outline planning phase where you establish the general objectives for the project and design the software architecture. → This is followed by a series of sprint cycles, where each cycle develops an increment of the system. → The project closure phase wraps up the project, completes required documentation such as system help frames and user manuals and assesses the lessons learned from the project.
Test-first development
Testing is central to XP and XP has developed an approach where the program is tested after every change has been made. XP testing features: →Test-first development. → Incremental test development from scenarios. → User involvement in test development and validation. → Automated test harnesses are used to run all component tests each time that a new release is built.
Scrum technology: product backlog
This is a list of 'to do' items which the Scrum team must tackle. They may be feature definitions for the software, software requirements, user stories or descriptions of supplementary tasks that are needed, such as architecture definition or user documentation.
key problems with agile maintenance
- Lack of product documentation - Keeping customers involved in the development process - Maintaining the continuity of the development team this is a real problem for lifelong systems
Extreme programming practices: on site customer
A representative of the end-user of the system (the customer) should be available full time for the use of the XP team. In an extreme programming process, the customer is a member of the development team and is responsible for bringing system requirements to the team for implementation. - means full time customer engagement with the team
Scrum technology: development team
A self-organizing group of software developers, which should be no more than 7 people. They are responsible for developing the software and other essential project documents.
extreme programming
A very influential agile method, developed in the late 1990s, that introduced a range of agile development techniques. Extreme Programming (XP) takes an 'extreme' approach to iterative development. → New versions may be built several times per day; → Increments are delivered to customers every 2 weeks; → All tests must be run for every build and the build is only accepted if tests run successfully
scaling agile methods
Agile methods have proved to be successful for small and medium sized projects that can be developed by a small co-located team. It is sometimes argued that the success of these methods comes because of improved communications which is possible when everyone is working together. Scaling up agile methods involves changing these to cope with larger, longer projects where there are multiple development teams, perhaps working in different locations
Scrum technology: velocity
An estimate of how much product backlog effort that a team can cover in a single sprint. Understanding a team's velocity helps them estimate what can be covered in a sprint and provides a basis for measuring improving performance
Scrum technology: product owner
An individual (or possibly a small group) whose job is to identify product features or requirements, prioritize these for development and continuously review the product backlog to ensure that the project continues to meet critical business needs. The Product Owner can be a customer but might also be a product manager in a software company or other stakeholder representative
two key issues with agile methods and software maintainence
Are systems that are developed using an agile approach maintainable, given the emphasis in the development process of minimizing formal documentation? Can agile methods be used effectively for evolving a system in response to customer change requests?
Extreme programming practices: continuous integration
As soon as the work on a task is complete, it is integrated into the whole system. After any such integration, all the unit tests in the system must pass.
Extreme programming practices: simple design
Enough design is carried out to meet the current requirements and no more - maintaining simplicity through constant code refactoring
Influential Extreme programming practices
Extreme programming has a technical focus and is not easy to integrate with management practice in most organizations. Consequently, while agile development uses practices from XP, the method as originally defined is not widely used. Key practices → User stories for specification → Refactoring → Test-first development → Pair programming
User stories for XP requirements
In XP, a customer or user is part of the XP team and is responsible for making decisions on requirements. User requirements are expressed as user stories or scenarios. These are written on cards and the development team break them down into implementation tasks. These tasks are the basis of schedule and cost estimates. The customer chooses the stories for inclusion in the next release based on their priorities and the schedule estimates.
agile principles and organizational practices: people not process
Individual team members may not have suitable personalities for the intense involvement that is typical of agile methods, and therefore may not interact well with other team members
contractual issues with agile methods
Most software contracts for custom systems are based around a specification, which sets out what has to be implemented by the system developer for the system customer. However, this precludes interleaving specification and development as is the norm in agile development. A contract that pays for developer time rather than functionality is required. → However, this is seen as a high risk my many legal departments because what has to be delivered cannot be guaranteed.
pair programming
Pair programming involves programmers working in pairs, developing code together. This helps develop common ownership of code and spreads knowledge across the team. It serves as an informal review process as each line of code is looked at by more than 1 person. It encourages refactoring as the whole team can benefit from improving the system code. In pair programming, programmers sit together at the same computer to develop the software. Pairs are created dynamically so that all team members work with each other during the development process. The sharing of knowledge that happens during pair programming is very important as it reduces the overall risks to a project when team members leave. Pair programming is not necessarily inefficient and there is some evidence that suggests that a pair working together is more efficient than 2 programmers working separately.
agile method applicability
Product development where a software company is developing a small or medium-sized product for sale. → Virtually all software products and apps are now developed using an agile approach Custom system development within an organization, where there is a clear commitment from the customer to become involved in the development process and where there are few external rules and regulations that affect the software.
Agile development
Program specification, design and implementation are inter-leaved The system is developed as a series of versions or increments with stakeholders involved in version specification and evaluation Frequent delivery of new versions for evaluation Extensive tool support (e.g. automated testing tools) used to support development. Minimal documentation - focus on working code
Rapid software development
Rapid development and delivery is now often the most important requirement for software systems → Businesses operate in a fast -changing requirement and it is practically impossible to produce a set of stable software requirements → Software has to evolve quickly to reflect changing business needs. Plan-driven development is essential for some types of system but does not meet these business needs. Agile development methods emerged in the late 1990s whose aim was to radically reduce the delivery time for working software systems
Examples of refactoring
Re-organization of a class hierarchy to remove duplicate code. Tidying up and renaming attributes and methods to make them easier to understand. The replacement of inline code with calls to methods that have been included in a program library
Scrum technology: scrum master
The ScrumMaster is responsible for ensuring that the Scrum process is followed and guides the team in the effective use of Scrum. He or she is responsible for interfacing with the rest of the company and for ensuring that the Scrum team is not diverted by outside interference. The Scrum developers are adamant that the ScrumMaster should not be thought of as a project manager. Others, however, may not always find it easy to see the difference
Extreme programming practices: collective ownership
The pairs of developers work on all areas of the system, so that no islands of expertise develop and all the developers take responsibility for all of the code. Anyone can change anything.
Agile project management
The principal responsibility of software project managers is to manage the project so that the software is delivered on time and within the planned budget for the project. The standard approach to project management is plandriven. Managers draw up a plan for the project showing what should be delivered, when it should be delivered and who will work on the development of the project deliverables. Agile project management requires a different approach, which is adapted to incremental development and the practices used in agile methods.
scrum benefits
The product is broken down into a set of manageable and understandable chunks. Unstable requirements do not hold up progress. The whole team have visibility of everything and consequently team communication is improved. Customers see on-time delivery of increments and gain feedback on how the product works. Trust between customers and developers is established and a positive culture is created in which everyone expects the project to succeed.
Customer involvement
The role of the customer in the testing process is to help develop acceptance tests for the stories that are to be implemented in the next release of the system. The customer who is part of the team writes tests as development proceeds. All new code is therefore validated to ensure that it is what the customer needs. However, people adopting the customer role have limited time available and so cannot work full-time with the development team. They may feel that providing the requirements was enough of a contribution and so may be reluctant to get involved in the testing process.
agile principle: people not process
The skills of the development team should be recognized and exploited. Team members should be left to develop their own ways of working without prescriptive processes.
Scrum technology: potentially shippable product increment
The software increment that is delivered from a sprint. The idea is that this should be 'potentially shippable' which means that it is in a finished state and no further work, such as testing, is needed to incorporate it into the final product. In practice, this is not always achievable.
agile principle: incremental delivery
The software is developed in increments with the customer specifying the requirements to be included in each increment.
