InfoQ Homepage Culture & Methods Content on InfoQ
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Sun SPOTs: Programmable Devices for Java Developers
Sun Microsystems has released the Sun SPOT platform under the GPL license. Sun SPOTs are programmable battery-powered devices controllable with Java technology.
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Agile2008 Reminder: Registration Discounts, Submission Deadline
Agile2008 is scheduled for August 4th-8th 2008, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Sheraton Centre Hotel. The Agile Alliance issued a call for participation in December and reminds us to submit by February 25th. Another way to attend for less is to nab one of the limited number of discounted super-early-bird registrations.
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Right-Size Your User Stories
For those using User Stories, getting them right is one of the difficult aspects of an Agile process - they can drive or bog down your work. Pat Kua recently addressed a key question: How much detail should you put in your story? The answer, of course, is "it depends" on where you are in the process.
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Kent Beck on Implementation Patterns
What does good code look like? In this interview, Kent Beck talks about his new book, Implementation Patterns, that deals with this question. Kent explains why Compose Method is so important, but also talks about the relationship between implementation patterns and XP, the history of software patterns and why he believes that Cockburn's Shu-Ha-Ri description of learning is naïve and simplistic.
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Unconsciously Agile? (Rhythms of Agile Development)
Damon Poole wrote recently that many of us maybe practicing Agile development without even realizing it. It turns out that many of us maybe showing signs of the Agile disease without knowing it.
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Discussion: Measuring Success of an Agile Project from the Customer’s Perspective
A recent discussion on the Scrum Development list looked at: “How does a customer measure the success of an Agile project?” Emphasis on: “measure”. The discussion seemed to agree that clients do need a way to track success in their terms, and various metrics were suggested, though it was agreed: it depends on the situation and the customer.
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VersionOne Announces New UI and Embedded Forecasting in Release 8
VersionOne recently announced Release 8 of their agile project management and team organization tool suite. This new release features an all-new user interface, introduction of a release forecasting toolset, and additional plug-n-play integrations for some popular open source tools.
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Are You An Agile Architect?
Vikas Hazrati recently posted an article on Agile Journal, defining his ideal characteristics of an Architect working in an Agile team, reflecting how the role of Architect has changed in light of Agile practices.
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Measure Teams, Not Individuals
Michael Dubakov recently expressed warning against the measurement of individual velocity and individual estimate accuracy. His view: measurement of these metrics not only provides no more useful information than is already available with their team-level equivalents, but may also have a tendency to encourage teams into behaviors that reduce effectiveness.
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Debate: Is Maven the right tool for builds?
Recently, there has been a lot of debate around the usefulness Maven, which is a Java-based build and dependency management tool being used in many projects. InfoQ took a closer look at this debate to understand what issues are being encountered, and what has resulted from the debate.
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Are Iterations/Sprints Waste or Value to Agile Teams?
Although many people consider iteration to be a key characteristic of agile software development, some question whether or not they're important, and add value to an agile method, or if they're superfluous, or even wasteful. InfoQ has assembled a roundup of arguments on the subject, to help agile teams decide if iterations are important for them.
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Apache Jackrabbit 1.4
Apache Jackrabbit is a fully conforming implementation of the Content Repository for Java Technology API (JCR), and has released version 1.4 after over 9 months of hard work. In the 1.4 release are 220 new features, improvements, and bug fixes since the 1.3 release, making 1.4 the largest release to date.
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Agile Beyond the Workplace
Many of us in this field have had our work habits affect our family life - many times for the better. Some of us use index cards in their daily life for scheduling, prioritizing, and discussing daily tasks with their families. Peter Abilla blogged about how he uses a Job Chart (a type of information radiator) to teach his children.
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Can Tools Reduce the Effort Involved in Test Driven Development?
With the presence of high quality test generation tools like Agitar One and Parasoft's JTest, some are questioning the need to write tests manually. 'Uncle' Bob Martin weighted in, exploring the weakness of the idea.
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Does TDD Really Ensure Quality?
Analysis of a recent study by the National Research Council of Canada's Institute of Technology into Test Driven Development turned up some interesting observations regarding the value that this approach adds, including whether, in fact, it adds any more value to the quality process than testing after development.