Agile is a methodology that has been around for quite some time now and was initially meant for software development. It is a set of values, principles, and practices that can be applied to almost any project. Many companies have been looking into it recently, but they still don’t know much about it or how it can be beneficial to them or their work.
If you are one of those people who wants to understand what agile is, its pros and cons, and how it can be applied to projects, then this article is for you!
Agile methodology is a project management approach that involves delivering requirements to customers iteratively and incrementally throughout the life-cycle of the product. In this methodology, planning and implementation are done simultaneously as a process of continuous improvement.
Agile is a mindset that promotes collaboration between all stakeholders in a project. This is most commonly achieved through daily meetings called “stand-ups” or “scrums.” These meetings are generally short, lasting no more than 15 minutes, and involve everyone involved in the project. They act as an opportunity for team members to share their progress on goals and also to raise any concerns about the project with one another.
Agile methodology has become increasingly popular over the past few years because it allows teams to constantly adapt to changing conditions, working with customers to deliver what they want when they want it. This article will discuss how agile methodology can be applied to projects and provide examples of how other companies have successfully implemented it.
The Scrum methodology is a very effective way to manage software development projects. This methodology facilitates high-quality products with the help of small and focused teams, simple and concise organization, and speedy delivery. It has been proven to be one of the most flexible, powerful, and effective ways of managing successful software development projects.
What Is Scrum?
Scrum is an agile framework for complete product development. It comprises a set of practices that use iterative incremental steps to produce products in shorter time frames. It helps teams prioritize tasks, keep up with deadlines, and respond to changes quickly.
History Of Scrum Methodology
In 1986 Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka first discussed the idea of the Agile methodology in their article titled “The New Product Development Game” which detailed how Honda had leveraged this approach to better compete with other automobile companies in the US market. In 1995 Jeff Sutherland coined the term ‘scrum’ while working on developing object-oriented frameworks at Easel Corporation. In 2001 Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle published their book Agile Software Development with Scrum which was instrumental in popularizing this approach among developers.
Agile methods are a family of software development processes, initially used in software development, that now are also being used for other types of projects. Agile methods emphasize rapid iterative development rather than rigid planning and documentation. They focus on customer satisfaction and getting working software into the customer’s hands.
Agile methods break products up into small increments that minimize the amount of up-front planning and design. Iterations are short time frames (timeboxes) that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves a team working through a full software development cycle including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing when a product is demonstrated to stakeholders.
At the end of each iteration typically there is a code freeze where code is integrated with the main repository. This allows stakeholders to see what has been accomplished in the iteration and gives them an opportunity to change priorities going forward or alter the scope of the project.
Agile methods use progress metrics to assess progress toward completing a project. In Scrum these metrics are called burn down charts; other agile methodologies may have different names for their metrics but serve similar purposes. In agile methods testers play a critical role in assessing whether a product is ready for release and help developers understand how much testing remains to
The Agile methodology was established in 2001 by a group of seventeen software developers. The Agile Manifesto is a fundamental part of the Agile methodology, which can be applied to any form of project management.
Agile methodology is based on the following four values:
1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan
There are 12 principles that further explain the values mentioned above, some of them are:
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development
3. Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months)
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project
5. Build projects around motivated individuals, give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation
Agile is a time boxed, iterative approach to software delivery that builds software incrementally from the start of the project, instead of trying to deliver it all at once near the end.
The Agile Manifesto was initially published in 2001 and has since become one of the guiding principles for all agile methodologies.
It states:
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.
Agile software development is a set of principles for software development in which requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between self-organizing cross-functional teams. It promotes adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continuous improvement, and it encourages rapid and flexible response to change. All agile methods advocate adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, and continual improvement, and they encourage rapid and flexible response to change.
Agile software development uses iterative development as a basis but advocates a lighter and more people-centric viewpoint than traditional approaches.
Agile methods break tasks into small increments with minimal planning, and do not directly involve long-term planning. Iterations are short time frames (timeboxes) that typically last from one to four weeks. Each iteration involves a team working through a full software development cycle including planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing when a working product is demonstrated to stakeholders.
As such, iterative and incremental development is the core of agile methods. The term “agile” was popularized, with many other iterative approaches emerging from the pattern community, in the Manifesto for Agile Software Development in 2001.
Agile manifestos: