Extreme Programming Pocket Guide (Paperback)

~ chromatic (Author)
Key Phrases: play the planning game, refactor mercilessly, releasable state, Business Practice, Coding Practice, Developer Practice (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Extreme Programming (XP) is a radical new approach to software development that has been accepted quickly because its core practices---the need for constant testing, programming in pairs, inviting customer input, and the communal ownership of code---resonate with developers everywhere. Although many developers feel that XP is rooted in commonsense, its vastly different approach can bring challenges, frustrations, and constant demands on your patience. Unless you've got unlimited time (and who does these days?), you can't always stop to thumb through hundreds of pages to find the piece of information you need. The Extreme Programming Pocket Guide is the answer. Concise and easy to use, this handy pocket guide to XP is a must-have quick reference for anyone implementing a test-driven development environment. The Extreme Programming Pocket Guide covers XP assumptions, principles, events, artifacts, roles, and resources, and more. It concisely explains the relationships between the XP practices. If you want to adopt XP in stages, the Extreme Programming Pocket Guide will help you choose what to apply and when.

About the Author

Chromatic lives in the Pacific Northwest and is a freelance writer and programmer. He is a frequent contributor to Slashdot and to Slash itself and wrote the Everything Bible for the Everything Development Company.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (June 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596004850
• ISBN-13: 978-0596004859
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #632,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good concise guide..., September 27, 2003

By	Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In today's world of tech books that are hundreds of pages long, it's nice to see a short, "no fluff" guide to a subject that is actually usable. This book fills that bill nicely.

Even if you've read about and implemented XP in your shop, there are times you need to review one of the points about how it all works together. Since the author covers all the main points of XP, you can quickly find the information you need. You also get a nice cross-reference at the end of each chapter that shows how each point relies on other parts of the methodology. I find this very useful if you are faced with having to modify XP for your use. It's recommended that you implement XP in its entirety, as it's meant to be more than the sum of its part. But if you have to tweak something, you know how it will affect the other areas.

I would not recommend this book as your only resource if you were just starting to implement XP. You really need to read Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck. He's the founder of XP, and that book goes into much more detail as to the whys of the process. But this book is one that each member of the team should have to keep the concepts fresh.

This is a very good book to use as a supplemental reference or reminder guide if you're using the XP methodology. If you were looking for a concise explanation of XP, this would also work for you. If you were looking for a more in-depth explanation of the methodology, I would recommend one of the books by Kent Beck.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good concise intro to XP., August 21, 2003

By	Wade Matveyenko (Kirkland, WA United States) - See all my reviews

If you are looking for a quick introduction to Extreme Programming (XP), then this is your book. Inside this gem is the essence of XP. chromatic has boiled down the original XP manifesto (extreme programming explained by Kent Beck) and many other books in the XP series into one little book.

The book covers the following topics:
XP Values
XP Practices
XP Events
XP Artifacts
XP Roles
Coding, XP Style
Adopting XP

While much of the information in this pocket guide is available in other books, I do not think that I have seen such a concise summary of Extreme Programming before. I would recommend this book to anyone who may be gathering an XP team together or is interested in learning the highlights of XP in a short time. That said, experienced XP practitioners will not find anything new in this book, but if you need a quick reference this book may be for you as well.

4.0 out of 5 stars XP Programming Starts Here!, May 3, 2007

By	Salomon Young "SYoung" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This guide is very concise & straight to the point. Do not be fool by its size. Team and project managers along with business analysts should find this guide very useful. This pocket book is an easy read that packs enough meat to get you going with Extreme Programming. It is written for anyone who is interested on knowing about XP.

By the end of the book you'll have a clear understanding of why use XP programming, practices, events, roles, code principles & style. Best of all, it provides you with clear examples and suggestions on how to adopt this methodology.