Boehm and Turner, Balancing Agility and Discipline

Introduction

With the balance of agility and discipline, the authors discuss the company-and project-specific optimal balance of mobility more in the center of agile software development methods, and compliance (more in the center of traditional methods) (Cockbun 32). 

Discipline is fundamentally both a necessary component of traditional, well-understood (plan-driven) and agile methods where the sense of self-control. Both principles are important: discipline without agility causes bureaucracy and stagnation, Boehm and Turner agility without discipline compare with the enthusiasm of start-up companies, from which no profits are still expected. The book is written for those who are by the method wars (agile against well-defined) and confused main interest to run their projects successfully. 

By profound contributions to the traditional methods known authors (Boehm: COCOMO, Turner: CMMI) argue convincingly that the truth on a continuum between only agile and only well-defined processes. It is the optimal range after she determined using a risk-based methods based on the project and surrounding properties (Boehm 9).

Discussion

The book is divided into three forewords (Grady Booch, Alistair Cockburn, Arthur Pyster), organized a header with information for the reader, an introduction (Prelude). Six chapters, an epilogue, five appendices, citations and bibliography and an index. The term was coined Agile Methodologies Agile Manifesto in 2001. When it was formulated. Most agile methods attempt to reduce the risk of failure in developing the software limited windows of time called iterations that typically last a few weeks (Coad 12). Each iteration is a small project in itself and must contain all that is needed to release a small increase in the functionality of the software: planning (planning), requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing and documentation.

Although the outcome of each iteration does not have enough features to be considered complete and should be released in the series of iterations, must get closer to customer requirements. At the end of each iteration, the team must re-evaluate project priorities.

Agile methods prefer the real-time communication, preferably face to face, to the writing (documentation). The agile team is composed of all the people needed to complete the software project. As a minimum the team should include programmers and their customers (customers are people that define how the product should be done: they can be the product manager of business analysts, customer or truly).

Chapter 1, Discipline, Agility, and Perplexity (20 pp.), describes the causes of confusion is to briefly discuss the two approaches (agile or plan-driven) and how can find a middle ground. In the last two decades later modeling notations and tools claimed to be the silver bullet for success in software development, however, expectations were not met. This is due in large part to another important element, the development methodology, had been postponed. Notations are useless and good tools if not provided guidelines for its implementation. Thus, this decade has begun a growing interest in development methodologies (Cobb 136). Until recently the development process was associated with a strong emphasis on process control through a rigorous definition of roles, activities and ...