Presented by Ms Swarnalatha Ashok at SCS TRENDS Seminar: Demystifying Myths of Agile Development on 10 Jan 2014

1. RIDING THE AGILE WAVE
SWARNALATHA ASHOK
(swarna@nus.edu.sg)
Chief (Advanced Software Design and Development Practice)
Institute of Systems Science
National University of Singapore
10 January 2014
1
© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.

2. OBJECTIVES
Highlight the philosophy of Agile Software
Development
 Importance of Agile Software Engineering
practices

TOPICS
The Agile Philosophy
 The Agile Manifesto
 Agile Methods
 Ensuring quality


Software Engineering practices
© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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3. WHAT IS AGILITY?
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4. THE AGILE PHILOSOPHY
Response to unclear and changing requirements
Frequent customer interaction and collaboration
 Frequent delivery of quality products
 Iterative application of supporting processes

Customer Satisfaction is the focus!
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5. THE AGILE MANIFESTO
Individuals and
interactions
over
Process and tools
Working software
over
Comprehensive
documentation
Customer
collaboration
over
Contract negotiation
Responding to
change
over
Following a plan
Source: www.agilemanifesto.org
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6. Agile Mindset
Happy Customer
Quality software
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7. TRADITIONAL VS AGILE - PEOPLE
Managers
Workers
Cubicles/rooms
vs
Facilitators
Collaborators
Collocated Work rooms
Directed
Progress report
vs
Autonomous
Event-based intimation
Appraisal
Seniority
Training
vs
Reflection
Competence
Mentoring
Trust is the central theme!
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8. TRADITIONAL VS AGILE - PROCESSES
Rule-based
Rigid Plans
Scheduled
vs
Linear process
Change management – a
separate process
Quality Assurance
Linear testing
Goal-based
Iteration guide
Time Boxed
vs
Iterative process
Process designed for
Change Management
vs
Peer Reviews
Test-driven Development
Quality is the central theme!
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9. TRADITIONAL VS AGILE – ARTIFACTS
Customer requirements
Deliverables
vs
Customer Needs
Business Value
Baseline Design
Critical Path
vs
Evolving Design
Prioritized list
Value to the Customer is the
central theme!
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10. AGILE MISCONCEPTIONS

No planning


No tracking progress


Planning is done for iterations and are flexible with the
Goal in mind
Event based reporting and frequent reviews
No documentation

Document only that has value
© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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11. AGILE MISCONCEPTIONS

No business analyst
Business Analyst is the voice of the customer
 Involved throughout the project


Easier for the customer
Customer involvement is more frequent
 Customer collaboration is vital to the success

© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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12. AGILE MISCONCEPTIONS

No testers
Developers and testers work together
 Test driven development


Requirements are never baselined
True!
 Process embraces change

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13. Agile Mindset
Happy Customer
Quality software
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14. AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS

Scrum

Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Dynamic Systems Development Methodology (DSDM)

Others
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15. SCRUM – MANAGEMENT DRIVEN
Requirements Management
Release Management
Monitoring
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Source: Scrum Primer
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16. FEATURE DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT – DERIVED FROM
TRADITIONAL METHODS
Management and Development focused
Object oriented, unit testing, design sessions, code reviews
Design first, upfront plan
Source: http://www.skillresource.com
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17. DYNAMIC SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT METHOD –
PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND DELIVERY
Management and Delivery
Functional Model Iteration
Design and Build iteration
Source: http://www.dsdm.org
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18. AGILE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORKS
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS
Working software
Quality driven
Short iterations
Regular feedback loops
People centric
Customer focus
Embrace Change
Timeboxing
Team activity
Needed Documentation
Does this mean quality is designed in?
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19. Agile Mindset
Happy Customer
Quality software
© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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20. ESSENTIAL AGILE ENGINEERING PRACTICES

Essential Agile Software Engineering (SE) practices





Agile Architecture & Use of Design patterns
Refactoring techniques
Test Driven Development
Continuous Integration and Delivery
Pair Programming
Stakeholders‟
support
Well disciplined team
agile SE knowledge
Organisation culture
with quality sense
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21. AGILE ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN PATTERNS
An Architecture that supports change, end-user
interaction, discovery, and ease of comprehension (of
functionality)
- Jeff Sutherland
Leverage on
Architectural and design patterns
Complete reference models and frameworks
Iterations dedicated to architecture is useful
Document only that is needed
(use diagrams, metaphors etc.)
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22. AGILE ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN PATTERNS
Develop Initial
Software
Architecture
Communicate
with
Stake Holders
If required, dedicate a
short iteration to
prototype the
architecture
Models
Keep it
Simple
Work
with
Developers
Feedback
Loop
Refine the
Architecture
Incremental Evolution of Software Architecture
Source: Scott W Amber
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23. REFACTORING TECHNIQUES
"Refactoring is the process of changing a software system in
such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of
the code yet improves its internal structure."
- Martin Fowler
Improve the design and code
Clean up the mess in the code
Find bugs and Reduce debugging time
Prevent “design decay”
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24. Ensure all
tests pass
Find code
that smells
Determine
refactoring
Ensure all
tests still pass
Refactor the code
and/or design
Test Driven Development (TDD)
REFACTORING TECHNIQUES
Should be done in conjunction with:
 Test Driven Development
 Continuous Integration
 Pair-Programming
 Dedicate a small duration every day/beginning of
an iteration
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25. TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
Goal of Test Driven Development (TDD) is to produce
„clean code that works‟

TDD = Refactoring + Test First Development (TFD)


i.e write the tests first before developing
Can be done at Unit Test level and also Acceptance
Test level
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26. TEST DRIVEN DEVELOPMENT
In conjunction with
•Continuous Integration
•Pair Programming
Tools and Unit testing frameworks
Test cases are written first and
according to what is actually expected
Estimation should includes efforts for
TDD
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27. PAIR PROGRAMMING
The goals of pair programming
Ensures higher quality of code
 To facilitate knowledge transfer



Eliminate the „truck factor‟
Higher discipline in software engineering practices
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28. PAIR PROGRAMMING

Mistakes get caught upfront

shorter time-to-repair
End defect content is statistically lower
(~15-50% gains)
 Work in pairs for critical modules


Challenges:
Personalities of the developers
 Off-the track discussions
 Support from stakeholders

© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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29. CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
Goal of Continuous Integration and Delivery is to
produce working software
Your software is broken until someone proves it
works, usually at the integration state.
Integrate

Integrate
Integrate
Integrate
Integrate
Integrate
Integrate
Integrate
Integration proves it works, why not do it every time
some change is made?
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30. CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION
Version
Control
Team
Agreement &
Commitment
Automated
Build
Frequent check-ins to Version Control system
Including source code, test scripts etc.
Automate TDD
Automate Build
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31. CONCLUSION
Agile Mindset
Individuals and
interactions

Agile Methods
Working software

Agile SE practices
Customer
collaboration

Agile Methods
Responding to
change

Agile SE practices
© 2014 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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32. Agile Mindset
CONCLUSION
Happy Customer
Quality software
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33. The Institute of Systems Science (ISS) of the National University of Singapore
(NUS) provides IT graduate education and professional development courses to develop
infocomm leaders and drive business and organisation innovation. The institute is
endorsed by leading international and local accreditation and certification bodies to
deliver programmes that lead to recognised certifications and qualifications.
OUR MISSION
Developing Infocomm Leaders, driving Innovation.
We Inspire and prepare infocomm leaders to innovate over the
course of their professional careers.
OUR VISION
Providing Thought-Leadership in Innovation.
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34. NICF Agile Courses
(http://www.iss.nus.edu.sg/ProfessionalCourses/Agile.aspx
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