Agile Software Process Models

Agile software engineering combines a philosophy and a set of development

guidelines. The philosophy encourages customer satisfaction and early
incremental delivery of software, small; highly motivated project teams;
informal methods; minimal software engineering work products, and overall
development simplicity. The development guidelines stress delivery over
analysis and design (although these activities are not discouraged), and
active and continuous communication between developers and customers.
The following topic categories are presented:

Agile Software Development is one of the big buzzwords of the software

development industry. But what exactly is it?

Agile development is a different way of managing software development projects.

10 Key Principles of Agile Software Development, and how it fundamentally
differs from a more traditional waterfall approach to software development, are as
follows:
1. Active user involvement is imperative

2. The team must be empowered to make decisions

3. Requirements evolve but the timescale is fixed

4. Capture requirements at a high level; lightweight & visual

5. Develop small, incremental releases and iterate

6. Focus on frequent delivery of products

7. Complete each feature before moving on to the next

8. Apply the 80/20 rule

9. Testing is integrated throughout the project lifecycle – test early and often

10. A collaborative & cooperative approach between all stakeholders is

essential
There are various methodologies and standards that address various aspects of
software development, for instance PRINCE2 for Project Management, Use
Cases/UML for Analysis and Design, ISEB for Testing. Although these are
typically applied to Waterfall development projects, elements of these methods
can also be applied in an agile development approach.

There are also methods that are specifically designed around agile development:

DSDM is probably the original agile development method. DSDM was around
before the term 'Agile' was even invented, but is absolutely based on all the
principles we’ve come to know as agile development.

SCRUM is also an agile development method, which concentrates particularly on

how to manage tasks within a team-based development environment.

XP (eXtreme Programming) is a more radical agile methodology, focusing on the

software development process and addressing the analysis, development and
test phases with novel approaches aimed at making a substantial difference to
the quality of the end product.

DSDM is probably the most complete agile methodology, whereas SCRUM and
XP are easier to implement and complementary because they tackle different
aspects of development projects and are both founded on the same principles of
agile development.

In reality, there is no magic bullet for software development. The real trick is to
know lots of techniques from various waterfall and agile development methods,
and to select a mixture of the best approaches that are most appropriate for any
given situation. To do this reliably with any degree of success really requires a lot
of experience and skill.

In agile software development projects, project management takes a slightly

different form, relying more on the project manager's skills in communication,
facilitation, coordination, and emphasising less on planning and control.

Agile development can be a very exciting and invigorating approach, although

some projects suit agile more than others. The collaboration and visibility can
provide a much richer and more rewarding experience for teams to develop great
software products. Agile development can be a lot more enjoyable than the
waterfall approach, which requires lots more documentation and is less flexible
by its nature. And when people enjoy their work, it’s amazing what they can
achieve!