A Programmers Take on Agile Software Development

Posted on April 6, 2008  Comments (2)

A Case for Agile: Benefits for a Programmer’s Career by Theodore Nguyen-Cao

Through agile development, I’ve been able to deliver working software time and time again. I’ve been exposed to all different aspects of the business. I’ve learn what I like and don’t like to do. I’ve learn what pieces of business I’m interested in and the pieces I don’t care much for. I’ve developed some really good working relationships. I’ve tackled some hard problems. I’ve learned to respond and adapt to the change and turmoil of a startup.

Most importantly, I still feel I’m growing as a developer. I honestly believe the best thing a developer can do in their career is to always be learning. Everything else will follow.

I am also a strong proponent of agile software development. Information Technology projects have a poor success rate. The best method, I have found, to provide better software solutions is agile development (and I find a grounding in management improvement techniques is useful – customer focus, process improvement, systems thinking, understanding variation, data driven management…). My experience is with custom application development (rather than developing Commercial Off The Shelf software – COTS) for which I think agile is a great fit.

Related: Joy in Work for Programmers – Agile Software Development Presentation – Metrics and Software Development – Management Science for Software Engineering – Programmers at Work – Joel Management

2 Responses to “A Programmers Take on Agile Software Development”

  1. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » The Power of Small Teams
    August 20th, 2008 @ 8:31 am

    Combine with agile management methods small teams allow for great focus (you are naturally guided toward appropriate project sizes instead of huge monster projects), great results and joy in work…

  2. Curious Cat Management Blog » The Manager FAQ
    November 20th, 2008 @ 9:12 am

    “The following list is an attempt to cover some of the issues that will invariably come up when hackers without previous experience of the business community first start working in it…”

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