Agile Software Development Methodologies and Practices

Abstract

Abstract Beginning in the mid-1990s, a number of consultants independently created and evolved what later came to be known as agile software development methodologies. Agile methodologies and practices emerged as an attempt to more formally and explicitly embrace higher rates of change in software requirements and customer expectations. Some prominent agile methodologies are Adaptive Software Development, Crystal, Dynamic Systems Development Method, Extreme Programming (XP), Feature-Driven Development (FDD), Pragmatic Programming, and Scrum. This chapter presents the principles that underlie and unite the agile methodologies. Then, 32 practices used in agile methodologies are presented. Finally, three agile methodologies (XP, FDD, and Scrum) are explained. Most often, software development teams select a subset of the agile practices and create their own hybrid software development methodology rather than strictly adhere to all the practices of a predefined agile methodology. Teams that use primarily agile practices are most often small- to medium-sized, colocated teams working on less complex projects.