Agile Desserts

Agile2007 Day 2. Here's a tip: even when it's 95 outside, always bring a sweater, hoodie, or parka to your conference because there isn't any global warming going on inside. I think the A/C is set to 65 to keep all the folks with jetlag awake!

Lot's of really interesting sessions and workshops going on at Agile2007. It's so rich with information that I feel like I'm sitting at an expense account restaurant with the whole dessert tray sitting on my table! The biggest problem is being one person trying to see overlapping sessions. I've said a number of times during the conference that I wished I was Hermione Granger with her Time-Turner (see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) so I wouldn't miss anything.

Some of the most interesting information gathered from the conference is listening to others discuss their experiences with agile in the context of the session they have just shared with you.

One thing that surprises me here is the number of Apple MacBook Pros that are in use. Many presenters are running Windows XP using Parallels Desktop for Mac. Cool.

Bob Martin (Object Mentor) made a very interesting observation about Test Driven Development (TDD) in his presentation introducing Extreme Programming (XP). He said that TDD was the 'most profound' practice to use. He sung the praises about TDD and the increase in code quality due to the constant testing involved. If you are interested in agile methods, you might want to investigate TDD, but be aware that it is a challenging method to implement because of the dramatic change in coding practice that is needed.

Another interesting session was one by Jim Highsmith on Agile Project Management. Mr. Highsmith has so much experience and knowledge that it is hard to know where to start. He had many thought provoking things to say, but a couple stood out to me. One was to focus on user stories (requirements in agile - written in understandable language) that went across the various silos of technical focus. The idea is to work on the user story that begins to solve problems in a big picture way. He said it was also important to prioritize user stories and focus on the top three and to work through these first in any iteration. Highsmith also mentioned the idea that good agile practices cut features, not quality when schedule is constrained. This is different from the traditional approach to a project where quality is cut first.

Well, that's all for right now, I need to get back to the bonbons.

The views expressed on this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, Robbins-Gioia.