#pair programming #xp

Pair programming: making the whole greater than the sum of its parts

When was the last time that you did some pair programming? How often do you practice it and why? Is it actually pair programming or is it just two people sitting side by side? Software engineering is a young and rapidly moving profession. Things have changed radically over the past few decades and we have to realize that it is a team sport. Great software is produced by great teams and I cannot imagine a team being great without members that are interacting a lot. ...

#tdd #xp

Comparing TDD flavours

A few days ago, right after my talk/demo on hands-on Test Driven Development (TDD) on the JHUG meetup, I noticed that a lot of conversation was about applying TDD in real world systems. Somehow people felt that it was great for a short demo or for implementing a small, algorithmic piece of code, but could not see how it could be applied to a greater scale. Conversation quickly shifted to Outside-In TDD and I decided to try and organize my thoughts concerning the two approaches. ...

#agile #xp

Agile code

During Christmas, just a few days before I decided to take up blogging, I was reading Sandro Mancuso’s excellent book Software Craftsmanship. I couldn’t help but agree (sometimes even out loud) when reading what Sandro describes as the Agile Hangover. How many companies decide to become agile only to find their projects failing for the very same reasons that urged them to become agile in the first place? What are the common characteristics of so many failed attempts? ...