Andrew D' H' Chow and Mike Joy

1
Shifting the Focus from Methodologies to
Techniques

• Andrew D. H. Chow and Mike Joy

2
A Brief Overview

• Academic group projects have constraints on the
  use of methodologies
• Difficult to deploy subsets of Extreme
  Programming due to interdependencies
• Experiments to determine which agile practices
  remain effective in academia
• Need to focus on teaching software engineering
  techniques

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Introduction

• Extreme Programming (XP) has become popular in
  recent years
• Agile practices used in a 2002-3 pilot study were
  successful
• Further research undertaken to determine which
  practices are effective
• Findings compared to industrial experience of XP
  deployment

4
Methodologies

• Software is expensive need for development
  methodology
• Methodologies evolved from engineering practices
• Classical methodologies can be inflexible and
  costly

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Classical Methodologies (1)

• Examples the Waterfall model (below) and the
  Rational Unified Process

Requirements
Specification
Design
Implementation
Testing
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Classical Methodologies (2)

• Developers often fail to follow all the rules of
  the methodology
• Can be due to budget and time constraints or lack
  of discipline
• New paradigm Agile Methods

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Agile Methods

• Aim to leverage the adaptability of software
  whilst ensuring integrity
• Provide a flexible framework
• Concentrate on producing and delivering visible
  results
• Allow change, even late in the development process

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The 12 XP Practices

• XP consists of 12 simple yet interdependent agile
  practices

• Continuous Integration
• Test-first Development
• Pair Programming
• Emergent Design
• Refactoring
• Coding Standards
• Simple Design

• Collective Code Ownership
• Small Releases and Iterations
• Sustainable Pace
• Metaphor
• On-Site Customer

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Agile Practices

• Agile methodologies depend on interdependent
  practices to work effectively
• any one practice doesnt stand well on its own
  (with the possible exception of testing). They
  require the other practices to keep them in
  balance Kent Beck, author of Extreme
  Programming Explained Embrace Change

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Academic Group Projects

• Constraints on the teaching and use of agile
  practices to undergraduates
• Aim to equip students with knowledge to make
  informed decisions on techniques
• Context of experiments Introduction to Software
  Engineering at Warwick
• Project to be completed within a 10-week period,
  including software and documentation

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2002-3 Pilot Study

• One group of six students used agile practices
  for the same group project
• Academic staff acted as customers
• No advantage given to these students
• Project achieved 89, best in the year
• No significant modifications to the teaching
  structure or assessment

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The Experiments

• Four teams of volunteers used agile practices for
  their second year projects
• Questionnaires throughout the project
• Interviews with each member of teams towards the
  end of the project
• Obtained student feedback and experience of using
  agile practices

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The Results

• Pilot study in 2002-3 indicated that no
  substantial modifications were needed
• Evidence of successful deployment of certain
  agile practices
• Some practices were less successful
• Students had to learn new set of skills

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Some Student Feedback

• Continuous Integration most popular
• Mixed reaction on pair programming
• Need for more planning upfront
• Students were unfamiliar with new tools necessary
  for some agile practices
• Useful practices not implemented for various
  reasons

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Professional Opinions

• Extreme Programming is a circle of snakes
  Matt Stephens and Doug Rosenberg
• Fix XP when it breaks Kent Beck
• A methodology per project Alistair Cockburn

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Conclusions

• Sample was too small for meaningful statistical
  analysis
• Qualitative feedback echoes opinions of Stephens
  and Rosenberg
• Teaching another methodology is not what is
  needed
• More beneficial to introduce alternatives to
  students for different problems

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Further Conclusions

• The study suggested that
• There is a need for students to be equipped with
  knowledge to tailor a methodology to a particular
  project
• There is a need to focus on the human elements
  of software development
• There is a need shift the focus to teaching
  software engineering techniques

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Any Questions?