InfoQ Homepage Software Craftsmanship Content on InfoQ
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Software Katas - Practice in Public Makes Perfect
Thought leaders in the agile community are talking about software katas - where one practices specific exercises until they are memorized. Robert Martin has calls them "performance art". Lately there has been an increase in blog posts and sites devoted to katas. The latest addition: weekly screencasts at katas.softwarecraftsmanship.org.
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Empirical Studies on Software Quality Mythology
Microsoft has released a summary of research findings that challenge traditional software-engineering mythology. Can code coverage really improve product quality? Does TDD take more time? What impact does a distributed team have on quality? Are assertions useful?
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Opinion: Pair Programming Is Not For The Masses
Pair Programming continues to be one of the most debated and controversial practices of recent years. Most proponents don't falter in their praise of the benefits, but many of even these same people will admit they struggle to get pairing really going in their shops. Why? Obie Fernandez opinions 10 reasons why this might be so.
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PairWithUs: On-Demand Agile Software Development Video Examples
One thing well known by most programmers is that the best (only?) way to learn programming technique is by example; specifically, watching someone else doing it. Antony Marcano & Andy Palmer's 'PairWithUs' gives people a great place to do just that.
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97 Things Every Programmer Should Know
The 97 Things series continues, after the architect and the project manager, with things every programmer should know. InfoQ talked to its editor Kevlin Henney.
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Software Craftsmanship North America
Software Craftsmanship North America is a one-day conference with the goal of introducing the Agile community to the Software Craftsmanship movement. Interestingly, SCNA will be at the same time as the Agile conference, in the same city, and have many speakers that will also be speaking at the Agile conference.
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Kent Beck Suggests Skipping Testing for Very Short Term Projects
Kent Beck suggests that on very short term projects, when you're trying to figure out if there is a viable concept, you might do less (even no) automated testing to help get off the ground quickly. This goes against all of the conventional wisdom surrounding TDD.
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FutureRuby Conference Coming Up
After last year's success of the RubyFringe conference, organizers Unspace will hold the FutureRuby conference July 9-12 2009 - tickets are still available. We talked to Pete Forde of Unspace about what to expect from FutureRuby.
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How TDD and Pairing Increase Production
"Test-driven Development" and "Pair Programming" are two of the most widely known of agile practices, yet are still largely not being practiced by many agile teams. Often, people will cite being "too busy" to adopt such practices as TDD and pairing; in essence, implying that striving for high code quality will reduce productivity. Mike Hill explains how this logic is seriously flawed.
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Measuring Agility, Craftsmanship, and Success
While Scott Ambler, Ross Pettit and others continue to pursue the creation of a maturity model for agile, David Starr has looked at how and why an organization might want to measure things like: agility, craftsmanship, and organizational success. He found craftsmanship relatively easy to measure, while agility was the most difficult to measure in a useful way.
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Models of Apprenticeship
Uncle Bob Martin recently wrote about his experience with apprentices and what he considers key to progressing from apprentice to journeyman. He describes two hypothetical apprentices: Sam, a developer who has apprenticed with the same master and had the same year fifteen years in a row. Jasmine has changed jobs (and therefore masters) a number of times - growing her skills along the way.
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Presentation: Craftsmanship and Ethics
In this talk Robert C. Martin outlines the practices used by software craftsmen to maintain their professional ethics. He resolves the dilemma of speed vs. quality, and mess vs schedule. He provides a set of principles and simple Dos and Don'ts for teams who want to be counted as professional craftsmen.
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"Classic" versus "Mockist" TDD, Distinction Real?
Hot in the TDD Yahoo group is a discussion concerning the perceived continuum between the "Classic" and "Mockist" TDD. Steve Freeman, Nat Pryce, Michael Feathers, Dale Emery, and many more discuss terminology and describe their approaches. The discussion also debates whether there even really exists such a continuum, and if so, what distinguishes the approaches that represent it's extremes?
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A Journeyman's Pair Programming Tour
Corey Haines has embarked on a unique personal "Pair Programming Tour". Now three weeks into this innovative journey, Haines has posted video interviews revealing many of the unique insights he's gained about pairing, automated testing, and the evolution of a software craftsman while sharing the keyboard at the home-bases of Dave Chelimsky, Brian Marick, Uncle Bob Martin, and others.
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The Power of Done
Scott Schimanski recently added his voice to those talking about the power of a clear definition of "done." Scott points out there is both business and personal value in a well-defined meaning of "done". The business can count on shipping features that are done, without making any additional investment, while individuals really seem to enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes with "done."