Extreme Programming (XP) is a lightweight software development methodology based on principles of simplicity, communication, feedback, and courage. I like to be able to scan methodologies to compare approaches. To do so, I create a skeleton of the activities, artifacts, principles, and practices. Here are my notes on XP:
Activities
- Coding
- Testing
- Listening
- Designing
Artifacts
- Acceptance tests
- Code
- Iteration plan
- Release and iteration plans
- Stories
- Story cards
- Statistics about the number of tests, stories per iteration, etc.
- Unit tests
- Working code every iteration
12 Practices
Here’s the 12 XP practices:
- Coding Standards
- Collective Ownership
- Continuous Integration
- On-Site Customer
- Pair Programming
- Planning Game
- Refactoring
- Short Releases
- Simple Design
- Sustainable Pace
- System Metaphor
- Test-Driven Development
For a visual of the XP practices, see a picture of the Practices and Main Cycles of XP.
5 Values (Extreme Programming Explained)
- Communication
- Courage
- Feedback
- Respect
- Simplicity
Phases
The following are phases of an XP project life cycle.
- Exploration Phase
- Planning Phase
- Iteration to Release Phase
- Productionizing Phase
- Maintenance Phase
For a visual overview, see Agile Modeling Throughout the XP Lifecycle.
12 Principles (Agile Manifesto)
These are the 12 Agile principles according to the Agile Manifesto:
- 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, from a couple of weeks to a couple of 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
4 Values (Agile Manifesto)
These are the four Agile values according to the Agile Manifesto:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Additional Resources
- Using an Agile Software Process with Offshore Development (Martin Fowler)
- Extreme Programming (Ward Cunningham’s Wiki)
- XProgramming.com (Ron Jeffries)
- Agile Manifesto
- Extreme Programming (Wikipedia)
- Practices and Main Cycles of XP (Ron Jeffries)
- Extreme Programming Core Practices (Ward Cunningham’s Wiki)
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