1.1.1 Agile Software Development and the Agile Manifesto

Question 1

The Agile Manifesto contains four statements of values:

Answer 1

 Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
 Working software over comprehensive documentation
 Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
 Responding to change over following a plan

Question 2

What does the Agile Manifesto argue?

Answer 2

The Agile Manifesto argues that although the concepts on the right have value, those on the left have greater value.

Question 3

Individuals and Interactions:

Answer 3

• Agile development is very people-centered.
• Teams of people build software, and it is through continuous communication and interaction, rather than a reliance on tools or processes, that teams can work most effectively.

Question 4

Working Software:

Answer 4

• From a customer perspective, working software is much more useful and valuable than overly detailed documentation and it provides an opportunity to give the development team rapid feedback.
• In addition, because working software, albeit with reduced functionality, is available much earlier in the development lifecycle, Agile development can confer significant time-to-market advantage.
• Agile development is, therefore, especially useful in rapidly changing business environments where the problems and/or solutions are unclear or where the business wishes to innovate in new problem domains.

Question 5

Customer Collaboration:

Answer 5

• Customers often find great difficulty in specifying the system that they require.
• Collaborating directly with the customer improves the likelihood of understanding exactly what the customer requires.
• While having contracts with customers may be important, working in regular and close collaboration with them is likely to bring more success to the project.

Question 6

Responding to Change:

Answer 6

• Change is inevitable in software projects.
• The environment in which the business operates, legislation, competitor activity, technology advances, and other factors can have major influences on the project and its objectives.
• These factors must be accommodated by the development process.
• As such, having flexibility in work practices to embrace change is more important than simply adhering rigidly to a plan

Question 7

Principles:

Answer 7

The core Agile Manifesto values are captured in twelve principles:

International Software Testing Qualifications Board
 Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
 Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
 Deliver working software frequently, at intervals of between a few weeks to a few months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
 Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
 Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they
need, 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.
 Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users
should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
 Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
 Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work not done—is essential.
 The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
 At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and
adjusts its behavior accordingly.

The different Agile methodologies provide prescriptive practices to put these values and principles into action.