Lets Dig into the 12 Principles of Agile

I’m tired. There has been a bunch of fun doing Code Katas but lets face it. It has limited use to you my readers so lets change the pace for a while and do something useful for a change. So lets do a new series. One on the 12 principles of Agile.

One of the biggest things that has changed software development between when I started and now is the implementation of Agile principles into the workflow. In fact one of the biggest issues in my career has been Agile done wrong.

Most developers have never looked at the Agile Manifesto which is shocking since they like to quote their version as gospel. In the spirit of you not being one of those lets dig into the manifesto’s 12 principles.

Because these are straight from the horse’s mouth, know neither Alfred nor I came up with these. If we did, we would not have used so much corporate speak.

Agile Principles

Principle 1: Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
through early and continuous delivery
of valuable software.

Principle 2: Welcome changing requirements, even late in
development. Agile processes harness change for
the customer’s competitive advantage.

Principle 3: Deliver working software frequently, from a
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
preference to the shorter timescale.

Principle 4: Business people and developers must work
together daily throughout the project.

Principle 5: Build projects around motivated individuals.
Give them the environment and support they need,
and trust them to get the job done.

Principle 6: The most efficient and effective method of
conveying information to and within a development
team is face-to-face conversation.

Principle 7: Working software is the primary measure of progress.

Principle 8: Agile processes promote sustainable development.
The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

Principle 9: Continuous attention to technical excellence
and good design enhances agility.

Principle 10: Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount
of work not done–is essential.

Principle 11: The best architectures, requirements, and designs
emerge from self-organizing teams.

Principle 12: At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
its behavior accordingly.

https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

Why are you doing this series?

As a result of these principle, the developer’s world changed. I want to explore each of these principles and look into what abuses I have seen and instance where I have seen it done well. This should be an interesting series of posts. Ones that I hope will help young developers not fall into the same traps as I did when I was their age.

These 12 principles that Agile on right can make dev work a whole lot easier or it can turn your life into a cigarette smoking monkey in a fez typing Shakespeare all day sort of hell.

Wrapping this up, lets try for the first and a bit less for the second.

Like always leave your questions and comments below.