Some Agile practices are more difficult to implement than others. This is particularly true in three areas: testing, architecture, and retrospectives. All three of these topics are essential for Agile development projects, yet teams' success varies. Teams are well-aware of the need for testing early in the life cycle, yet frequently struggle to elevate testing to the highest priority. Architecture is perhaps the most controversial topic for Agile teams - Agile processes stress the emphasis on lightweight requirements and design, yet acknowledge the need for robust architectures on which to build flexible applications. Retrospectives often fall into the "we know we can do better" category, where Agile teams conduct these sessions but don't always take advantage of the benefits this forum can provide. In this month's Agile Journal, our contributors explore these three topics and share their experiences from successful projects.

Allan Kelly considers the many reasons why Agile teams neglect retrospectives, and suggests some approaches for feedback and knowledge transfer. Derek Wade and Scott Barnes stress the value of emergent design and architecture, in addition to emergent and iterative development. Scrum retrospectives offer teams the ability to eliminate technical debt and focus on delivering business value early in the life cycle. Hubert Smits and Tamara Sulaiman share their experiences working with distributed teams in the US and India, and how retrospectives were effective in resolving issues and building team cohesiveness.

Scott Ambler delves into the topic of architecture - specifically, the practice of architectural envisioning - and the ways in which Agile teams can benefit from modeling without suffering the overhead of needless documentation. Pete Hodgkins promotes the concept of "Tarchitecture" (technical architecture) covering not only software architecture, but also physical and support architectures and how Agile collaboration and continuous feedback help teams create better architected products.

Looking at the topic of testing, Ross Pettit argues that the Quality Assurance (QA) organization can and must be considered a value-added partner on an Agile team, and not an encumbrance to the development process. Teams that leverage dedicated QA staff throughout the entire life cycle will increase both their efficiency and effectiveness.

As we publish our 24th issue of the Agile Journal, I regret to inform our readers that this is my last issue as Editor in Chief. The demands of my consulting business have grown to the point where I cannot manage both businesses. Beginning in May, Patrick Egan, publisher of CMC Media (including the Agile Journal and CM Crossroads) will take over as editor and continue to publish monthly issues. I would like to thank our many readers for all their support, feedback, and fantastic contributions over the past two years, and I know that the Agile Journal will continue to be successful in the years to come.

Please continue to share your Agile experiences in our forums, blogs, and article feedback. If you'd like to contribute an article on an upcoming topic, send us your ideas at agilejournal.com/contactus. Refer to the 2008 editorial calendar for future themes.

Best of luck in all of your Agile endeavors,

Liz Barnett
Editor in Chief - Agile Journal
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