01Overview

In the 1990s XP, Scrum and Crystal each explored lightweight processes. In 2001 seventeen practitioners met at Snowbird, Utah, and published the Agile Manifesto: individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration and responding to change, valued above process, documentation, contracts and plans.

The core of agile is a shorter feedback loop: two-week iterations, continuous integration, automated tests, pair programming. It is not “no process” but a smaller, more adjustable one. Twenty-odd years on agile is mainstream, and often criticised as ritualised — stand-ups and boards standing in for real autonomy and experiment.

02History

  1. 1999

    Extreme Programming Explained

    Kent Beck systematises XP.

  2. 2001

    The Agile Manifesto

    A reaction against document-heavy process, written at Snowbird.

  3. 2002

    Scrum spreads

    Iterations and role separation.

  4. 2010

    Agile at scale

    Frameworks such as SAFe appear.

03Core concepts

Iteration

Deliver a runnable increment inside a fixed time box.

User story

Describe a requirement from the user’s point of view so it can be prioritised.

Continuous integration

Merge code often and build and test it automatically.

04Hands-on

Do it once — it beats reading it ten times

Run a two-week iteration on your own project: board, daily notes, review — and record what the process did not catch

05Self-check

Say it in your own words first, then open the answer. Whatever you cannot explain is what to review next.

Can you explain "Iteration"?

Deliver a runnable increment inside a fixed time box.

Can you explain "User story"?

Describe a requirement from the user’s point of view so it can be prioritised.

Can you explain "Continuous integration"?

Merge code often and build and test it automatically.

What problem did it solve, and why was there nothing better at the time?

Go back to the history section: how was this done before, and what did it cost?

If you had to build it today, how would you break it down?

Use the hands-on task above: write a plan of at most three steps before you start.

06Key people

K

Kent Beck

1961 –

Extreme programming and test-driven development.

J

Jeff Sutherland

1941 –

Co-creator of Scrum.

07Further reading

  • Manifesto for Agile Software DevelopmentBeck et al. · 2001
  • Extreme Programming ExplainedKent Beck · 1999