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Software engineering | Программная инженерия

Lesson 2

Read the text:  Extreme Programming for automated business systems

What is Extreme Programming for automated business systems?

Programming is a discipline of software development based on values of simplicity, communication, feedback, and courage. It works by bringing the whole team together in the presence of simple practices, with enough feedback to enable the team to see where they are and to tune the practices to their unique situation.

In Extreme Programming, every contributor to the project is an integral part of the "Whole Team". The team forms around a business representative called "the Customer", who sits with the team and works with them daily.

Extreme Programming teams use a simple form of planning and tracking to decide what should be done next and to predict when the project will be done. Focused on business value, the team produces the software in a series of small fully-integrated releases that pass all the tests the Customer has defined.

Extreme Programmers work together in pairs and as a group, with simple design and obsessively tested code, improving the design continually to keep it always just right for the current needs.

The Extreme Programming team keeps the system integrated and running all the time. The programmers write all production code in pairs, and all work together all the time. They code in a consistent style so that everyone can understand and improve all the code as needed.

The Extreme Programming team shares a common and simple picture of what the system looks like. Everyone works at a pace that can be sustained indefinitely.

All the contributors to an XP project sit together, members of one team. This team must include a business representative -- the "Customer" -- who provides the requirements, sets the priorities, and steers the project. It's best if the Customer or one of her aides is a real end user who knows the domain and what is needed. The team will of course have programmers. The team may include testers, who help the Customer define the customer acceptance tests. Analysts may serve as helpers to the Customer, helping to define the requirements. There is commonly a coach, who helps the team keep on track, and facilitates the process. There may be a manager, providing resources, handling external communication, coordinating activities. None of these roles is necessarily the exclusive property of just one individual: Everyone on an XP team contributes in any way that they can. The best teams have no specialists, only general contributors with special skills.

XP planning addresses two key questions in software development: predicting what will be accomplished by the due date, and determining what to do next. The emphasis is on steering the project -- which is quite straightforward -- rather than on exact prediction of what will be needed and how long it will take -- which is quite difficult. Release Planning is a practice where the Customer presents the desired features to the programmers, and the programmers estimate their difficulty.

Iteration Planning is the practice whereby the team is given direction every couple of weeks. XP teams build software in two-week "iterations", delivering running useful software at the end of each iteration. During Iteration Planning, the Customer presents the features desired for the next two weeks. The programmers break them down into tasks, and estimate their cost. Based on the amount of work accomplished in the previous iteration, the team signs up for what will be undertaken in the current iteration.

These planning steps are very simple, yet they provide very good information and excellent steering control in the hands of the Customer. Every couple of weeks, the amount of progress is entirely visible. This focus on visibility results in a nice little paradox: on the one hand, with so much visibility, the Customer is in a position to cancel the project if progress is not sufficient. On the other hand, progress is so visible, and the ability to decide what will be done next is so complete, that XP projects tend to deliver more of what is needed, with less pressure and stress.

 

1. Match the left part with the right:

1. There planning steps	a) have programmers.
2. Extreme Programmers work  together	b) are very simple, yet provide very good information.
3. The team will of course	c) sit together, members of one team.
4. All the contributors to an XP project	d) in pairs and as a group.

 

2. Complete the sentences with the suggested words: consistent, code, integrated, improve

The Extreme Programming team keeps the system _______ and running all the time. The programmers write all production _______ in pairs, and all work together all the time. They code in a _______ style so that everyone can understand and _______ all the code as needed.