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Agile Junction

Kirk Knoernschild

by Kirk Knoernschild

What makes a software developer agile? How about a software development team? And how do traditional techniques fit in the agile world? Agile Junction explores the practices of agile developers, agile teams, and the harmonious intersection of agility and the proven practices, principles, patterns, and paradigms of software development.

Agile RUP

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Written by Kirk Knoernschild   
Thursday, 15 February 2007 04:54

Introduction 

The Rational Unified Process (RUP) has become a defacto standard for many organizations as they look to improve their software development processes. Unfortunately, transitioning to RUP is an arduous and risky process as teams struggle with adjusting to an iterative style of development. As a witness to many process improvement efforts utilizing RUP, I've found most are little more than reinventions of an organization's existing practices. The result is a pseudo-iterative style of development that favors excessive documentation manifest as RUP artifacts, a predictive and plan-driven approach providing no clear barometer to gauge success, and a tendency to revert to traditionally flawed practices as teams succumb to the pressures of project deadlines. Certainly, RUP should not be blamed for the failure, but often times that's the case, casting a dark shadow on iterative development and making teams ever more leary to consider agile development.

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Last Updated on Friday, 16 February 2007 05:22
 

Agile and Iterative

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Written by Kirk Knoernschild   
Wednesday, 20 December 2006 02:43
Agile is iterative. But iterative isn't always agile. Increased agility is not a natural by-product of iterative development, and choosing an iterative evelopment process with high degrees of ceremony inhibit agility.
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Last Updated on Thursday, 21 December 2006 02:51
 

Agile Architecture

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Written by Kirk Knoernschild   
Thursday, 16 November 2006 06:04
Software architecture is difficult to define. Ask five different developers their definition of software architecture, and you'll likely get five different answers. Arguably though, we can agree that software architecture represents the significant technical decisions spanning the breadth of the system. For instance, managing the dependencies between modules is a significant aspect of software architecture. Developing application frameworks that promote consistency across use cases is architecturally significant. Identifying application layers and the behavioral granularity of those layers is architecturally significant, as well. As Booch so eloquently states:
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Last Updated on Friday, 17 November 2006 02:47
 

Agile UML

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Written by Kirk Knoernschild   
Tuesday, 31 October 2006 05:10
I believe the Unified Modeling Languages (UML) is a wonderful and powerful modeling language. The ability to create different types of diagrams representing multiple system perspectives offers numerous advantages. A picture is worth a thousand words, and an enormous amount of information can be conveyed on a single diagram or a complete model of a system, no doubt. But what for? What problem are you trying to solve? It's possible there are other, more effective techniques that address the problem. How does UML compare to other agile practices that address the same challenges of UML? Can UML be used in an agile way?
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Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 October 2006 05:11
 

agility is an ability

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Written by Kirk Knoernschild   
Friday, 20 October 2006 05:25
I really don't care about Scrum. I really don't care about XP. I don't care about Agile RUP, or any other Agile process. But I do care about the agile practices embedded within these processes. I find little value in debating the advantages of XP over RUP. Of course, I've had the debate before, but mostly just to argue that it's not about the process, it's about the practice, the team and the culture. I don't care if you do Use Case Realizations. I care more about why you do them and what value they bring to your team. Agility is not a process, it is an ability. The ability to remain nimble and accommodate change. Why would we want to be anything but agile? Slow, brittle, and inept are certainly not defining characteristics of success. As in life, remaining agile requires care, attention, and nurturing.
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