Recent Articles
Article by Lisa Crispin, Nanda Lankalapalli |
Jun 12 2011 - 9:59pm Technical debt is one of the primary impediments to long-term software product success. Every team feels the pressure to deliver value frequently to the business. At the same time, we know that we need to keep our code clean and supported by tests to operate at a sustainable pace. Regular technical debt sprints are one way to make our “interest payments.” Read More
Article by Filip Szymanski |
Jun 6 2011 - 12:00am Your applications need to meet business needs, overcome complex processes, and provide instant results to customers. And, ideally, they’ll require minimal rework on your part. The first step to success is requirements definition. Here, Filip Szymanski offers some tips from agile methods that will improve your requirements—even if you haven’t otherwise adopted agile. Read More
Article by Don Gray |
May 16 2011 - 12:00am In this installment of our continuing conversations between software experts, Don Gray talks to George Dinwiddie about his work in the agile community—both before and after it got its name—and how agile approaches affect teams. Read More
Article by Biswajit Nanda |
May 13 2011 - 5:14am This checklist lists the core agility principles that are important from a testing perspective. Organizations can make use of this checklist for agility assessment and identifying areas of testing improvement. Read More
Article by Steve Berczuk, Robert Cowham |
May 2 2011 - 9:00pm This article was originally published in the CM Journal
As much as software developers are stereotyped are solitary coders, software development is a collaborative activity. Communication among team members is essential in ensuring working continuously working software. And working software is what makes communication with stakeholders easier. You can show the state of your application rather than explain progress in terms of more abstract concepts. Your SCM system (and processes) are an essential part how you communicate both in and about code between developers and to stakeholders.
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Article by Joe Farah |
May 2 2011 - 9:00pm This article was originally published in the CM Journal
CM allows us to repeatably build product that can be delivered to the customer. In the hardware world, the "build" process is called "manufacturing" and the deployment is known as "shipping and installation". In the software world, our manufacturing is done through a Build process, and our deployment is often automated, perhaps over the internet. However, unlike for hardware development, software teams continually build and re-build the entire software product continually during development and can deploy these builds locally for verification. So the build process is not just a manufacturing process, but a development process as well. Deployment, during development, may involve deployment to the workspace area for developer testing, to a central test area and/or to lab equipment. After that, there are still deployment considerations for verification, production certification and finally to customers.
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Article by Steve Berczuk |
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Apr 24 2011 - 9:00pm In an agile project, the ScrumMaster is a key role in the Scrum process and can demand a lot of work, especially when a team is transitioning to Scrum. This would suggest that the ScrumMaster should be a dedicated role for a team member. Teams trying out agile might not be able to justify a full-time ScrumMaster to the organization, so the role is filled by someone who is a contributor on the team. This can be a challenge and, if done incorrectly, a problem. This article discusses some potential issues to be aware of and how to make the hybrid role work. Read More
Article by Johanna Rothman |
Apr 6 2011 - 12:00am Not every organization is prepared to dive into the swift, short iterations of agile, but that doesn’t mean the organization isn’t ready for a change. Johanna Rothman suggests looking to an iterative lifecycle called “release trains” as you begin your journey. Read More
Article by Lisa Crispin, Janet Gregory |
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Apr 4 2011 - 12:00am Expanding on the ideas introduced in their March/April 2011 Better Software magazine article “Learning for Agile Testers” Lisa and Janet encourage continual learning. The software industry changes quickly; be sure you have the skills needed to stay relevant and valuable. Read More
Article by Jurgen Appelo |
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Mar 16 2011 - 5:29am It is sensible to want to avoid the head-butting sort of competition—that is, arguing for the sake of arguing. But, differing opinions and styles can be a good thing. Competitive forces have driven markets, innovation, and civilization for millennia. Here, Jurgen Appelo takes a look at some of the various approaches to agile development and what they bring to the table. Read More
