In the early 1990s a man named Kent
Beck was thinking about better ways to develop software. He had recently spent some time working with Ward Cunningham.
Ward and Kent together had experienced an approach to software development that made every thing seem simple and
more efficient. Kent contemplated on what made software simple to create and what made it difficult. The result
was his creation of the Extreme Programming Methodology (XP).
What Kent came to realize is that there
are four dimensions along which one can improve any software project. You need to improve communication. You need
to seek simplicity. You need to get feedback on how well you are doing. And you need to always proceed with courage.
Communication, Simplicity, Feedback, and Courage are the four values sought out by XP programmers.
We communicate with our customers and
fellow programmers not only by talking face to face, but also thorough code, tests, CRC cards, and user stories. |
We keep our design simple and clean.
We even keep our software methodology simple with simple rules to follow.
We get feedback by testing our software
starting on day one. We deliver our system to the customers as early as possible and listen to what they say.
By communicating with each other and
the customers, keeping things simple, and relentlessly testing our code we are able to courageously respond to
changing requirements and technology.
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