1 Agile software development

This chapter covers:

Why everyone, in every business, needs to know how to create enterprise value by creating software
Why and how software creation is different from other projects businesses undertake
That software development projects require a special kind of project management
The Manifesto For Agile Software Development, which states the fundamentals of a new approach to managing software development projects
That this new way of managing projects is simple, but not easy

The rapid and widespread adoption of the Agile approach to project management, along with the expansion of software into every product, service, government, and enterprise, has spread the use of Agile project management faster than the knowledge and experience needed to do it well.

In order to meet the demand for project managers to run software development the Agile way, training in the Agile approach is often expedient and certification-oriented. The people who come out of this training often know what to do, but not why.

1.1 Every business a software business

1.2 Managing a risky and creative activity

1.2.1 The waterfall model

1.2.2 Software is different

1.2.3 The new economics of software

1.2.4 Problems emerged early

1.2.5 Agility is needed

1.3 Agile software development

1.3.1 Manifesto

1.3.2 Principles

1.4 Agile is a response

1.4.1 On task completeness

1.4.2 Beyond the reaction

1.5 Agile is not infallible

1.6 Simple, but not easy

1.7 Strong foundations are made without jargon

1.8 Summary