Questioning Extreme Programming [Paperback]

Pete McBreen (Author)

Book Description

Series: XP Series | Publication Date: July 19, 2002

Ever since Extreme Programming burst on to the application development scene in 1998, it has been a lightning rod for controversy. With its emphasis on programmer-based development, many professionals love it. However, Extreme Programming contradicts many of the traditional beliefs in software development; therefore, many professionals hate it. Either way, potential adopters and opponents need to make decisions on Extreme Programming. In Questioning Extreme Programming, author Pete McBreen puts this agile approach to application development under the microscope, and closely examines both sides of this heated debate.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Extreme Programming (XP) has been the subject of heated debate since its arrival on the programming scene in 1998—understandably so, as it contradicts many traditional software development beliefs. We¿ve heard success stories about sweeping changes made to organizations as a result of XP. We’ve read books about how this approach can work for our teams. However, are there times when XP isn’t appropriate? There are certainly instances when making the leap to XP could potentially jeopardize a whole project. What’s missing from all of this rhetoric? Witness Pete McBreen, software craftsman, examine the issue from both sides.

In Questioning Extreme Programming, the author helps you examine and answer the following questions:

Is the cost of change really low?

Does XP allow proper testing?

Does XP make sense?

Is XP a return to the dark ages?

Can we adopt XP practices for other approaches?

Do you need process improvement or process change?

Why are developers so zealous about adopting XP?

Is XP suitable for your projects?

What is the next step after Extreme Programming?

After reading this thought-provoking book, software developers can make informed decisions about Extreme Programming, and whether it is suitable for their organization. Readers will also be able to determine whether Extreme Programming is inappropriate for a particular project. The author challenges you to look past the hype and start asking the hard questions about how software is built. Discover for yourself.

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About the Author

Pete McBreen is an independent consultant who actually enjoys writing and delivering software. Despite spending a lot of time writing, teaching, and mentoring, he goes out of his way to ensure that he does hands-on coding on a live project every year. Pete specializes in finding creative solutions to the problems that software developers face. After many years of working on formal and informal process improvement initiatives, he took a sideways look at the problem and realized, “Software development is meant to be fun. If it isn’t, the process is wrong.” Pete lives in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada and has no plans to move back to a big city.

0201844575AB07092002

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pearson Education; 1st edition (July 19, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201844575
• ISBN-13: 978-0201844573
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,538,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining debunking of XP mythos, but not concrete enough, November 28, 2003

By 

Lars Bergstrom "LarsBerg" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Questioning Extreme Programming (Paperback)

The biggest thing I liked was that it didn't just focus on XP, but also hit on a lot of other methodologies, doing some comparisons and contrasts. Expect to understand what all the hubub is about after going through it, without needing to buy into any of the other Agile background books first. You will probably also be able to take away a high-level piece or two of advice from it.

It's not something I would purchase, though, because it stays pretty high-level through much of the book, and doesn't really have much reference material value. I was also a bit dismayed that he hadn't run a project with XP yet. He cheerfully admitted it in the introduction, and his reviewers were all of the hardcore folks associated with XP; however, that still gave me the same feeling as I would get reading a book entitled Questioning Low-Fat Recipies from the Two Fat Ladies, where they claimed they'd never tried any. Sure, they're FAR better cooks than I am. And probably see more different types of recipies in a given week than I will in a year. But I just would get the feeling I might be missing the whole picture and that too many of the judgements are value-laden and not backed by concrete examples of things that went wrong in his XP projects.

Also, it was weird for a book this small, but I felt like it repeated itself in a couple of the 'summary' end of chapter sections, especially near the end of the book.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars explains XP jargon, but doesn't support its assertions, March 18, 2003

By 

C. K. Ray "agile sw developer" (Silicon Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Questioning Extreme Programming (Paperback)

I found the book Questioning Extreme Programming to provide a good explanation of XP for people who don't already know its jargon.

However, Pete's assertion that XP only works in a certain niche of possible project-types isn't supported in the book -- the assertion is made many times, but no real evidence is presented. Since there are many successful projects out there doing XP, the niche must not be as small as Pete says.

I agree with one point from another (not yet published) book on agile software development: XP can provide a great improvement in software quality in those companies that don't already have a good development process. If your company has a good development process with acceptible agility and good enough results, you don't need to change what you do.

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable read for the XP/Agile devotee, October 27, 2006

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Boomzilla "Boomzilla" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Questioning Extreme Programming (Paperback)

I'll tell you at the outset I'm a big fan of agile programming. I lived through many years of waterfall development and all the pain that ensued. Having been convinced of the power and flexibility of Agile methodologies though hands on expereince there is *no* going back (never say never, eh?).

Although this book is written to debunk XP (no matter what the intro says), it doesn't do that job. What is does do very well is raise many of the questions that anyone intersted in Agile should ask themselves -- no matter if they have been practicing agile methodologies for years, or if they are just thinking about it.

Even if your are a 100% died in the wool fan of agile/XP/whatever - this is a very valuable book. It'll cause you to think and question. And that is always good.