This article was very helpful for me. Especially the part about dentists. It reminded me to call my dentist and make an appointment, which I’ve been procrastinating on for weeks. Anyone else in the same situation? Call now!
I am not sure how much evidence there is for Extreme Programming. But if it works, I wonder how much its rules can be translated to areas beyond programming. (Or maybe it already exists. Maybe “two minds work better than one” was already know for millenia, only for IT people it remains a surprising and controversial topic.) Could we somehow abstract the coding details away, and call it Extreme Doing?
The parts about planning (estimates, acceptance tests) seem universal enough. Sure, the tests will not be automatical, but writing them specifically and in advance could help a lot. Stand up meeting every morning? Trivial. What is a proper analogy for refactoring? Probably it means avoiding procrastination on strategic things; if I know that a small change in environment could make my future work more efficient, I should do that small change as soon as possible. Unit driven development? Before you start doing anything, write explicitly on paper which properties do you except from your result; later check the paper to confirm you did not forget anything. Pair Programming? Don’t do things alone; you will have more fun. (Also the obvious problem: you need to find another fan of Extreme Doing working on the same project.) I am not sure about the continuous integration. It probably means that you should design your plans so that they will bring some partial benefits during the way to your goal, gradually increasing the benefits as you progress (as opposed to: first I must finish everything completely, and only then it starts being useful).
I am not sure how much evidence there is for Extreme Programming. But if it works, I wonder how much its rules can be translated to areas beyond programming. (Or maybe it already exists. Maybe “two minds work better than one” was already know for millenia, only for IT people it remains a surprising and controversial topic.) Could we somehow abstract the coding details away, and call it Extreme Doing?
It’s controverisal, and application to other industries more so, but efforts to target some of the low-hanging fruit are underway.
This article was very helpful for me. Especially the part about dentists. It reminded me to call my dentist and make an appointment, which I’ve been procrastinating on for weeks. Anyone else in the same situation? Call now!
I am not sure how much evidence there is for Extreme Programming. But if it works, I wonder how much its rules can be translated to areas beyond programming. (Or maybe it already exists. Maybe “two minds work better than one” was already know for millenia, only for IT people it remains a surprising and controversial topic.) Could we somehow abstract the coding details away, and call it Extreme Doing?
The parts about planning (estimates, acceptance tests) seem universal enough. Sure, the tests will not be automatical, but writing them specifically and in advance could help a lot. Stand up meeting every morning? Trivial. What is a proper analogy for refactoring? Probably it means avoiding procrastination on strategic things; if I know that a small change in environment could make my future work more efficient, I should do that small change as soon as possible. Unit driven development? Before you start doing anything, write explicitly on paper which properties do you except from your result; later check the paper to confirm you did not forget anything. Pair Programming? Don’t do things alone; you will have more fun. (Also the obvious problem: you need to find another fan of Extreme Doing working on the same project.) I am not sure about the continuous integration. It probably means that you should design your plans so that they will bring some partial benefits during the way to your goal, gradually increasing the benefits as you progress (as opposed to: first I must finish everything completely, and only then it starts being useful).
It’s controverisal, and application to other industries more so, but efforts to target some of the low-hanging fruit are underway.