Agile Software Development Methods: A Comparative Review1

Abstract

Although agile software development methods have caught the attention of software engineers and researchers worldwide, scientific research still remains quite scarce. The aim of this study is to order and make sense of the different agile approaches that have been proposed. This comparative review is performed from the standpoint of using the following features as the analytical perspectives: project management support, life-cycle coverage, type of practical guidance, adaptability in actual use, type of research objectives and existence of empirical evidence. The results show that agile software development methods cover, without offering any rationale, different phases of the software development life-cycle and that most of these methods fail to provide adequate project management support. Moreover, quite a few methods continue to offer little concrete guidance on how to use their solutions or how to adapt them in different development situations. Empirical evidence after ten years of application remains quite limited. Based on the results, new directions on agile methods are outlined.

Innovation and Scaling up Agile Software Engineering Projects

“…They proposed 12 principles of agile software which arise out of the prioritized agile values listed in the manifesto. Abrahamsson et al (2002) and Chen et al (2004) stated that software development method can be deemed as agile when the development is done in small incremental releases with customers and developers cooperating and working together, the method is easy to learn and is adaptable.…”

“…The life cycle of XP consists of five phases: exploration (with customer stories); planning (with stories for next iteration, priorities and effort estimates); iterations to release (with continuous review & continuous integration of code base with pair programming including analysis, design, planning for test & testing); productionizing with small releases with customer approval; maintenance and death (Abrahamsson et al, 2002;Beck, 2000). Feature driven development (FDD) is an agile approach but focuses only on the design and development phases (Abrahamsson et al, 2002).…”

“…Rational Software Process (RUP) was not considered agile as it contained detailed guidelines for the process phase (Abrahamsson et al, 2002, Cohen 2004. However, more recently, the adoption phase has been revamped (Abrahamsson et al, 2002, Ambler, 2008 and agile modeling is used in RUP for business modeling, requirement definition and analysis and design phases.…”

“…However, more recently, the adoption phase has been revamped (Abrahamsson et al, 2002, Ambler, 2008 and agile modeling is used in RUP for business modeling, requirement definition and analysis and design phases. Agile modeling by Ambler focuses on 11 best practices listed in 4 categories of iterative and incremental development, teamwork, clarity and validation.…”

Mapping CMMI Level 2 to Scrum Practices: An Experience Report

“…From these needs, Agile Software Development (ASD) [11,12] emerged with the definition of the Agile Manifesto [13]. The Agile Manifesto is a statement of the principles that underpin agile software development, some of them are continuous delivery of valuable software, simplicity, on-site customer, and welcome changing requirements.…”