Software development projects can be fun, productive, and even daring. Yet they can consistently deliver value to a business and remain under control. Extreme Programming (XP) was conceived and developed to address the specific needs of software development conducted by small teams in the face of vague and changing requirements. This new lightweight methodology challenges many conventional tenets, including the long-held assumption that the cost of changing a piece of software necessarily rises dramatically over the course of time. XP recognizes that projects have to work to achieve this reduction in cost and exploit the savings once they have been earned. Fundamentals of XP include: x Distinguishing between the decisions to be made by business interests and those to be made by project stakeholders. x Writing unit tests before programming and keeping all of the tests running at all times. x Integrating and testing the whole system-several times a day. x Producing all software in pairs, two programmers at one screen. x Starting projects with a simple design that constantly evolves to add needed flexibility and remove unneeded complexity. x Putting a minimal system into production quickly and growing it in whatever directions prove most valuable. Why is XP so controversial? Some sacred cows don't make the cut in XP: x Don't force team members to specialize and become analysts, architects, programmers, testers, and integrators-every XP programmer participates in all of these critical activities every day. x Don't conduct complete up-front analysis and design-an XP project starts with a quick analysis of the entire system, and XP programmers continue to make analysis and design decisions throughout development. x Develop infrastructure and frameworks as you develop your application, not up-front-delivering business value is the heartbeat that drives XP projects. x Don't write and maintain implementation documentation-communication in XP projects occurs face-to-face, or through efficient tests and carefully written code. You may love XP or you may hate it, but Extreme Programming Explained will force you to take a fresh look at how you develop software.

Beck, who owns and operates his own software company, wants to encourage readers to reexamine their preconceptions of how software development ought to occur. He does just that in this overview of Extreme Programming (XP), a controversial approach to software development which challenges the notion that the cost of changing a piece of software must rise dramatically over the course of time. This book covers the basics of XP, including the integration of testing throughout the whole system, beginning projects with a simple design, and expanding and changing it as you go along. XP asserts that programmers should participate at every phase of a project, rather than specialize, and it encourages face-to-face communication with two programmers at a screen.
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An introduction to XP. XP is a methodology for creating software within a very unstable environment. It allows flexibility within the modelling process. This text describes the features and benefits of XP.

Software development projects can be fun, productive, and even daring. Yet they can consistently deliver value to a business and remain under control. Extreme Programming (XP) was conceived and developed to address the specific needs of software development conducted by small teams in the face of vague and changing requirements. This new lightweight methodology challenges many conventional tenets, including the long-held assumption that the cost of changing a piece of software necessarily rises dramatically over the course of time. XP recognizes that projects have to work to achieve this reduction in cost and exploit the savings once they have been earned. Fundamentals of XP include: x Distinguishing between the decisions to be made by business interests and those to be made by project stakeholders. x Writing unit tests before programming and keeping all of the tests running at all times. x Integrating and testing the whole system-several times a day. x Producing all software in pairs, two programmers at one screen. x Starting projects with a simple design that constantly evolves to add needed flexibility and remove unneeded complexity. x Putting a minimal system into production quickly and growing it in whatever directions prove most valuable. Why is XP so controversial? Some sacred cows don't make the cut in XP: x Don't force team members to specialize and become analysts, architects, programmers, testers, and integrators-every XP programmer participates in all of these critical activities every day. x Don't conduct complete up-front analysis and design-an XP project starts with a quick analysis of the entire system, and XP programmers continue to make analysis and design decisions throughout development. x Develop infrastructure and frameworks as you develop your application, not up-front-delivering business value is the heartbeat that drives XP projects. x Don't write and maintain implementation documentation-communication in XP projects occurs face-to-face, or through efficient tests and carefully written code. You may love XP or you may hate it, but Extreme Programming Explained will force you to take a fresh look at how you develop software.

Foreword Preface Section 1 The Problem Chapter 1 Risk: The Basic Problem Our Mission Chapter 2 A Development Episode Chapter 3 Economics of Software Development Options Example Chapter 4 Four Variables Interactions Between the Variables Focus on Scope Chapter 5 Cost of Change Chapter 6 Learning to Drive Chapter 7 Four Values Communication Simplicity Feedback Courage The Values in Practice Chapter 8 Basic Principles Chapter 9 Back to Basics Coding Testing Listening Designing Conclusion Section 2 The Solution Chapter 10 Quick Overview The Planning Game Small Releases Metaphor Simple Design Testing Refactoring Pair Programming Collective Ownership Continuous Integration 40-Hour Week On-Site Customer Coding Standards Chapter 11 How Could This Work? The Planning Game Short Releases Metaphor Simple Design Testing Refactoring Pair Programming Collective Ownership Continuous Integration 40-Hour Week On-Site Customer Coding Standards Conclusion Chapter 12 Management Strategy Metrics Coaching Tracking Intervention Chapter 13 Facilities Strategy Chapter 14 Splitting Business and Technical Responsibility Business Development What to Do? Choice of Technology What If It's Hard? Chapter 15 Planning Strategy The Planning Game Iteration Planning Planning in a Week Chapter 16 Development Strategy Continuous Integration Collective Ownership Pair Programming Chapter 17 Design Strategy The Simplest Thing that Could Possibly Work How Does "Designing Through Refactoring" Work? What Is Simplest? How Could This Work? Role of Pictures in Design System Architecture Chapter 18 Testing Strategy Who Writes Tests? Other Tests Section 3 Implementing XP Chapter 19 Adopting XP Chapter 20 Retrofitting XP Testing Design Planning Management Development In Trouble? Chapter 21 Lifecycle of an Ideal XP Project Exploration Planning Iterations to First Release Productionizing Maintenance Death Chapter 22 Roles for People Programmer Customer Tester Tracker Coach Consultant Big Boss Chapter 23 20-80 Rule Chapter 24 What Makes XP Hard Chapter 25 When to Try XP Chapter 26 XP at Work Fixed Price Outsourcing Insourcing Time and Materials Completion Bonus Early Termination Frameworks Shrinkwrap Products Chapter 27 Conclusion Expectation Annotated Bibliography Glossary Index