Software Engineering Discussion

Software Engineering

Part 1 Agile Principles

Discuss three important agile principles.

As a project stakeholder, would you follow these principles?

Justify why you would or would not adhere these agile principles.

Software Engineering

Part 2 Agile Principles

Respond to two peer discussion posts

Peer 1 Megan

The book reviews 10 different agile principles. The first is that active user involvement is imperative. From last week's reading on requirement elicitation we know this is the hardest step. One of the ways to combat any issues was having the user involved. As a developer we don't know exactly how the business process should be handled and any smaller quirks that might make the work easier. Thats where the user comes in. Another principle is that the requirements may evolve but the timescale is fixed. Projects can't take years to finish. By sticking with the time line it forces the stakeholders and the developers to prioritize features. Get the high priority ones up and running and get a working product out the door. Finally a collaborative and cooperative approach between all stakeholders is essential. This is one of the biggest in my mind. Stakeholders encompass a wide group of people from the everyday users to the CEO of the company. There may be a financial incentive to develop the new project but without the end user's input it may result in a product that doesn't help at all. Having all stakeholders agree on the requirements or main features ensures a product that works for everyone.

As a stakeholder, i wouldn't see an issue with this approach. It guarantees a working product within a specific time frame. I am able to give my opinion on what is needed and by being able to communicate openly and often with the design team i know my money is going towards something that is going t work.

Peer 2 Stephen

As I read the question for this weeks discussion, I chose principles that I already do and would follow these principles as a project stakeholder; I may not be a project stakeholder, but as a supervisor. The textbook overviews ten principles of agile development. If you were to research other websites or businesses, you will see that the number and description of the agile principles will vary, but they all align with developing a guideline that assist in the agile development process.

As stated in my introduction, I chose principles that I would use as a project stakeholder; the team must be empowered to make decisions, requirements evolve but the timescale is fixed, and a collaborative and cooperative approach between all stakeholders is essential.

It is vital to an organization to be able to work cooperatively together as a team. With that, the project manager should realize that a member of the team may have a concept for the software development cycle that will provide benefits. Also, that member also be willing to assume responsibility and ownership of its actions / results.

I think that we all have worked on a project (any kind) that at some point during, its requirements had changed and we still needed to have the final project completed on time. That is what the principle of requirements evolves but the timescale is fixed means. It is also a principle that is unavoidable and should be discussed with the staff at some point in the planning process for software development.

Software development often begins as an idea by either a team or individual. In a structured organization, you may receive software requests from an outside organization. It is important that all requirements for the project to be communicated thoroughly to the development team. All stakeholders (the development team, users, and customers) should be incorporated during the life cycle to be able to identify and evolve any new requirements. It is important that all the stakeholders in the project have a collaborative approach towards each other. When they can all communicate clearly and concise, there will be less error and better work habit and performance.