BYTE.com > Editorial and Opinion > 2002
Extreme Programming: A Walk Down Memory Lane
By James Bredijk
February 18, 2002
(Extreme Programming: A Walk Down Memory Lane
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I am an information junkie, and it can be a problem. I read way too
much. Books, magazines, professional journals, you name it. And let's
not forget the Internet — endless web pages, PDFs, and e-mail. I
read so
much because I don't want to miss out on anything. I will always be
prepared for tomorrow, even at the expense of accomplishing nothing
today. It can become a problem.
One of the topics that I've been bombarded with recently is Extreme
Programming (XP). This is a way of casting out the demons
of traditional (and often cumbersome) project planning, design, and
management that has been shoved down the pike in a fashion reminiscent
of the late '90s Java assault.
Extreme Programming is a "lightweight" software methodology. It
was intended as a "reexamination of the software development practice,"
with the added bonus of trying to reduce development costs. XP is
designed for a small group of developers, and stresses that managers and
customers be included in the development team. It encourages
refactoring "whenever and wherever possible." And testing. Lots and lots
of testing.
XP is based around four rules: Planning, Designing, Coding, and
Testing. In general, this may not sound all that different from other
approaches, but XP has fewer rules and practices than most. Its
emphasis on including the end users in the process from the beginning is
an analyst's dream and nightmare rolled in one. (There is also lots of
testing.)
XP tries to minimize the impact of a project's definition and
management, without sacrificing quality or deliverables. The reality of
a moving
target is integrated into the XP mentality, and changing requirements
are expected and embraced. These things change in every project during
the initial design phase, as well as the "let's revamp it" phase and
the "what were they thinking?" phase. In XP, they just don't wait for
all of this to settle down before they start coding. Sounds perfect for
the
idealistic young programmer.
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BYTE.com > Editorial and Opinion > 2002
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