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Rocks into Gold: Part 1[article] This short book, written by Clarke Ching, is a "biztech" parable for software developers who want to survive—and then thrive—through the credit crunch. We have republished the book in a four-part series. In part one, we meet the main characters who have just found out that their jobs are on the line after discovering their major client's business is failing. Follow the story as our characters fight to keep their jobs by implementing creative business ideas and management skills taken from agile development. |
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Speaking Ill of the Dead[article] The title alone should generate imagery ranging from destructive rumors to the macabre. Who are these dead, and who is speaking ill of them? "The dead" are former team members, the ill speakers are those who blame problems on them, and we are taking a critical look at this complaining with just a touch of irony. We are talking about the culture of blaming current problems and challenges on team members who are no long with the team for whatever reason. Almost anyone who has been involved in the software development life cycle has experienced this behavior, and very possibly taken part in it even with the best intentions in mind. |
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A Critical Look at CMM and Agile Through Gen Y[article] Much has been written about the commonality or even the lack of it between Agile and CMM. CMM claims to be a flexible model that can be tailored and adapted to many life cycles. The continued discussion is evident enough that it is not sufficient to compare practice to practice and arrive at any reasonable conclusion about their overall compatibility. The one difference that seems to have earned consensus amongst most of the published literature on the subject is "the people aspect" of these models. |
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What is Best, Scrum or Kanban?[article] What is best, Kanban or Scrum? Because I can't make up my mind, I decided to write a single article in two parts—one where I wear the "I love Kanban" hat and one where I'm wearing an "I love Scrum" T-shirt. |
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Product Backlog Rules of Thumb[article] While working with Product Owners over the years I have learned some rules of thumb that help make their Product Backlogs more manageable. Some of these rules of thumb I learned from other people and some were learned through trial and error. Remember that the statements contained in this article are just rules of thumb intended to help guide your management of a Product Backlog. They are not rules to adhere to no matter what. Always use common sense when applying a rule of thumb to your particular context. |
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Group Coherence for Project Teams - Continuous Improvement[article] One of the principles in the Agile Manifesto states, "At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly." This principle guides both aspiring and seasoned Agile teams in the pursuit of continuous improvement and can support whatever Agile adoption path an organization may choose. Kent Beck adds observations about this topic. |
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ScrumBut: Failure to Deliver[article] In this article, Michele Sliger discusses one of the more common "ScrumBut" practices that, while allowing teams to say "We suck less," isn't really in keeping with intended Scrum practices. This ScrumBut practice is the persistent failure of the team to complete the agreed-upon features in the iteration or sprint. |
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Deception and Self-deception in Software Testing[article] Untruths about software testing are common. Managers, programmers, and other people on software projects don't always mean to deceive. Quite often, they fool themselves into believing what they want to believe. But sometimes they lie deliberately and even pressure testers to lie. And testers can also practice deceptions and self-deceptions of their own. In this column, Fiona Charles describes four categories of common deceptions and self-deceptions in testing and outlines what testers need to do to address them. |
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If Your Build Fails and No One is Around to Hear It, Does It Make a Sound?[article] Continuous Integration build tools are great: they help us ensure our product works after every commit, keep historical data and metrics, build our product for all target environments, and do many more useful things. But there's one key aspect that often gets overlooked: They're fun. |
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Tips and Advice - Retrospectives[article]
Podcast
Tips and Advice - Retrospectives |
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Distributed Agile Day to Day[article] "Distributed" isn't a word that always has appeared favorably in works about agile methodology. After all, the proximity of agile team members while working is highly regarded. In this article, an excerpt of which originally appeared in the May 2009 Iterations eNewsletter, Chris McMahon takes a look at how "agile" and "distributed" can work together successfully. |
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Moving into the role of Scrum Master - Jill Tubaugh[article]
Podcast
Moving into the role of Scrum Master - Jill Tubaugh |
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Crash Course in Proficient Presenting[magazine] Ben has to make a presentation at the next all-hands meeting. It'll be his very first presentation, and just thinking about it has sent him into a panic. Fortunately, he has the support of an experienced speaker and coach who offers advice and encouragement to help him become a proficient, panic-free presenter. |
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Issues about Metrics about Bugs[magazine] Managers often use metrics to help make decisions about the state of the product or the quality of the work done by the test group. Yet, measurements derived from bug counts can be highly misleading because a "bug" isn't a tangible, countable thing; it's a label for some aspect of some relationship between some person and some product, and it's influenced by when and how we count ... and who is doing the counting. |
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GUT Instinct[magazine] Whether or not a unit test is considered good is not simply about what it tests: It is also very much about "how" it tests. Is the test readable and maintainable? Does it define the expected behavior or merely assume it? To be sustainable, the style of a unit test is just as important as the style of any other code. Perhaps a little surprisingly, the most commonly favored test partitioning style does not meet these expectations. |
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