This paper presents data collected on extreme programming (XP) and how this method relates to traditional software engineering practices. The author presents reasons—albeit no scientific proofs—why extreme programming may be harmful to a reliable software development project. The paper also discusses why Extreme Programming fails to provide answers to significant questions that contemporary software development methods have to answer. The Extreme Programming hype, and its variant in the "Agile Methods" packaging, currently dominates the software development scene and should be investigated and evaluated before assuming it is the best method for a particular project. This paper is an attempt to contribute to the discussion.
This paper presents data collected on extreme programming (XP) and how this method relates to traditional software engineering practices. The author presents reasons—albeit no scientific proofs—why extreme programming may be harmful to a reliable software development project.
The author also discusses why extreme programming fails to provide answers to significant questions that are important to contemporary software development methods.
The extreme programming hype, and its variant in the "agile methods," currently dominates the software development scene and should be investigated and evaluated before assuming it is the best method for a particular project.
This paper is an attempt to contribute to the discussion.
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Gerold Keefer is the founder and CEO of AVOCA LLC. For ten years he has been working as a consultant in the field of software development, software quality assurance, and testing. Clients include Dresdner Bank, Robert Bosch, German Post, and Siemens. He has been a speaker at the German Chapter of the ACM, and at the SQM and PSQT conferences. He earned the degree of a Dipl.-Ing. (FH) at FHTE (Fachhochschule für Technik Esslingen), Department of Telecommunications in 1993.
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