Author of Test Driven (2007) and Effective Unit Testing (2013) [Blog] [HowToAskQuestionsOnJavaRanch]
Originally posted by Tim Allen:
I am interested in learning about XP. I mainly am interested in learning if it is something I could use in my current work. I'm a web developer in using Perl, XML and (yuck) ASP, and am trying to branch out to Java.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
Originally posted by Ilja Preuss:
None of those technical things you mentioned are indicators against XP, IMO. In fact, social circumstances are much more important in this respect.
Can you tell us more about this? Are you working in a colocated team? How is communication with the customer working? How big are the projects (team size)?
And what are you searching for in XP - why are you interested in it?
Originally posted by Tim Allen:
One thing to keep in mind: I'm in Spain. Spanish business does not have the concept of a programmer/analyst (if there's a company in Barcelona that does, I want to know about it). Programmers generally are not supposed to speak to the client: management see this as the functional analyst's job. So most client-team communications have to pass through a (useless) layer of analysts.
The usual pattern here is for an analyst to go on site, do the analysis, provide a report on the analysis to the programming team, and that is the end of communication with the client until the product is in it's beta version.
Author of Test Driven (2007) and Effective Unit Testing (2013) [Blog] [HowToAskQuestionsOnJavaRanch]
Originally posted by Lasse Koskela:
XP advocates close communication with the client ("on-site customer"), which on the other hand would improve your chances to get the right product out, but on the other hand it may prove difficult from a cultural perspective -- if the customer really doesn't want to participate or if the management just won't let the customer see the programmers.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
So I am trying to learn enough about XP myself to see if it is something we can use. If someone in the company doesn't investigate it, we almost certainly will end up doing every project the way we have until now-- throwing everyone available at the project without any plan.
As for your questions: We have a team of five programmers-- not all will be on the same project at once, and if there are more projects, management will probably hire more.
You'll have to explain to me what a colocated team is.
One thing to keep in mind: I'm in Spain. Spanish business does not have the concept of a programmer/analyst (if there's a company in Barcelona that does, I want to know about it).
Programmers generally are not supposed to speak to the client: management see this as the functional analyst's job. So most client-team communications have to pass through a (useless) layer of analysts.
The usual pattern here is for an analyst to go on site, do the analysis, provide a report on the analysis to the programming team, and that is the end of communication with the client until the product is in it's beta version.
I know that's insane. That's why I'm trying to learn about methodologies like XP to see if there is a better way.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
A good question is never answered. It is not a bolt to be tightened into place but a seed to be planted and to bear more seed toward the hope of greening the landscape of the idea. John Ciardi
Originally posted by Tim Allen:
Since 90% of our revenue is about to dry up, management has suddenly gotten interested in the second, but more consistent source of revenue-- us programmers.
The secret of how to be miserable is to constantly expect things are going to happen the way that they are "supposed" to happen.
You can have faith, which carries the understanding that you may be disappointed. Then there's being a willfully-blind idiot, which virtually guarantees it.
Originally posted by Tim Holloway:
However, the current silver bullet candidate is job exportation - taking the work and sending it to places where the cost of labor is so much lower that the delays, cultural, and communications problems involved are erased by the sheer dollar (or Peso, if you prefer) savings.
A setup where the programmers are isolated from the customers is a prime candidate for offshoring (the term I use to refer to outsourcing outside one's own country, since it's usually more accurate in the U.S.).
I was reading an article on XP just yesterday by one of its leading proponents. If I recall correctly,
XP does not claim to produce code more rapidly or more cheaply, but realizes its greatest benefit from the higher quality.
Unfortunately, quality isn't an overriding consideration in much of today's world. Too many businesses opt for cheap instead.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
Charles.<br />(SCJD2)
Originally posted by Charles Dupin:
I am new to XP, how would you define XP in few words.
Thanks
Charles.
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny - it is the light that guides your way. - Heraclitus
Charles.<br />(SCJD2)
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