Extreme Programming Explained : Embrace Change (2nd Edition)
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Kent Beck's eXtreme Programming eXplained provides an intriguing high-level overview of the author's Extreme Programming (XP) software development methodology. Written for IS managers, project leaders, or programmers, this guide provides a glimpse at the principles behind XP and its potential advantages for small- to mid-size software development teams.
The book intends to describe what XP is, its guiding principles, and how it works. Simply written, the book avoids case studies and concrete details in demonstrating the efficacy of XP. Instead, it demonstrates how XP relies on simplicity, unit testing, programming in pairs, communal ownership of code, and customer input on software to motivate code improvement during the development process. As the author notes, these principles are not new, but when they're combined their synergy fosters a new and arguably better way to build and maintain software. Throughout the book, the author presents and explains these principles, such as "rapid feedback" and "play to win," which form the basis of XP.
Generally speaking, XP changes the way programmers work. The book is good at delineating new roles for programmers and managers who Beck calls "coaches." The most striking characteristic of XP is that programmers work in pairs, and that testing is an intrinsic part of the coding process. In a later section, the author even shows where XP works and where it doesn't and offers suggestions for migrating teams and organizations over to the XP process.
In the afterword, the author recounts the experiences that led him to develop and refine XP, an insightful section that should inspire any organization to adopt XP. This book serves as a useful introduction to the philosophy and practice of XP for the manager or programmer who wants a potentially better way to build software. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Extreme Programming (XP) software methodology, principles, XP team roles, facilities design, testing, refactoring, the XP software lifecycle, and adopting XP.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
The goal of Extreme Programming (XP) is outstanding software development. Software can be developed at lower cost, with fewer defects, with higher productivity, and with much higher return on investment. The same teams that are struggling today can achieve these results by careful attention to and refinement of how they work, by pushing ordinary development practices to the extreme. There are better ways and worse ways to develop software. Good teams are more alike than they are different. No matter how good or bad your team you can always improve. I intend this book as a resource for you as you try to improve. This book is my personal take on what it is that good software development teams have in common. I've taken things I've done that have worked well and things I've seen done that worked well and distilled them to what I think is their purest, most extreme form. What I'm most struck with in this process is the limitations of my own imagination in this effort. Practices that seemed impossibly extreme five years ago, when the first edition of this book was published, are now common. Five years from now the practices in this book will probably seem conservative. If I only talked about what good teams do I would be missing the point. There are legitimate differences between outstanding teams' actions based on the context in which they work. Looking below the surface, where their activities become ripples in the river hinting at shapes below, there is an intellectual and intuitive substrate to software development excellence that I have also tried to distill and document. Critics of the first edition have complained that it tries to force them to program in a certain way. Aside from the absurdity of me being able to control anyone else's behavior, I'm embarrassed to say that was my intention. Relinquishing the illusion of control of other people's behavior and acknowledging each individual's responsibility for his or her own choices, in this edition I have tried to rephrase my message in a positive, inclusive way. I present proven practices you can add to your bag of tricks. No matter the circumstance you can always improve. You can always start improving with yourself. You can always start improving today. 0321278658P11022004
Extreme Programming Explained : Embrace Change (2nd Edition)
Extreme Programming Explained : Embrace Change (2nd Edition),Kent Beck,Cynthia Andres,Addison-Wesley Professional,0321278658,Computer Bks - General Information,Computer Books: General,Computer software,Computers,Development,General,Programming - General,Software Development,eXtreme programming,Computers / Programming / General
Extreme Programming Explained : Embrace Change (2nd Edition)
Books:
Books