Methodologies That Are Used to Implement Agile
Agile is a framework and there are a number of specific methods within the Agile movement. You can think of these as different flavors of Agile:
- Extreme Programming (XP): Also known as XP, Extreme Programming is a type of software development intended to improve quality and responsiveness to evolving customer requirements. The principles of XP include feedback, assuming simplicity, and embracing change.
- Feature-driven development (FDD): This iterative and incremental software development process blends industry best practices into one approach. There are five basic activities in FDD: develop overall model, build feature list, plan by feature, design by feature, and build by feature.
- Adaptive system development (ASD): Adaptive system development represents the idea that projects should always be in a state of continuous adaptation. ASD has a cycle of three repeating series: speculate, collaborate, and learn.
- Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM): This Agile project delivery framework is used for developing software and non-IT solutions. It addresses the common failures of IT projects, like going over budget, missing deadlines, and lack of user involvement. The eight principles of DSDM are: focus on the business need, deliver on time, collaborate, never compromise quality, build incrementally from firm foundations, develop iteratively, communicate continuously and clearly, and demonstrate control.
- Lean Software Development (LSD): Lean Software Development takes Lean manufacturing and Lean IT principles and applies them to software development. It can be characterized by seven principles: eliminate waste, amplify learning, decide as late as possible, deliver as fast as possible, empower the team, build integrity in, and see the whole.
- Kanban: Kanban, meaning “visual sign” or “card” in Japanese, is a visual framework to implement Agile. It promotes small, continuous changes to your current system. Its principles include: visualize the workflow, limit work in progress, manage and enhance the flow, make policies explicit, and continuously improve.
- Crystal Clear: Crystal Clear is part of the Crystal family of methodologies. It can be used with teams of six to eight developers and it focuses on the people, not processes or artifacts. Crystal Clear requires the following: frequent delivery of usable code to users, reflective improvement, and osmotic communication preferably by being co-located.
- Scrum: Scrum is one of the most popular ways to implement Agile. It is an iterative software model that follows a set of roles, responsibilities, and meetings that never change. Sprints, usually lasting one to two weeks, allow the team to deliver software on a regular basis.
