What is Extreme Programming?
One of several popular agile software development processes used at Fogsoft, Extreme Programming breaks projects into “pieces” through frequent development releases in order to maximize productivity.
By breaking things up and releasing independent pieces one at a time, we can better keep our clients abreast of what’s happening with their project, and give them an opportunity to offer feedback while we work.
That feedback, when incorporated into the initial development process, helps us deliver software of the highest quality.
If it helps, think of Extreme Programming as a fluid endeavor rather than meticulously mapped course. The value of Extreme Programming is in the adaptability of the methodology when confronted with changing client needs.
How Extreme Programming Works
Understanding how Extreme Programming works is all about understanding the four pillars of development.
Coding
The product we create at Fosoft must address the needs of our clients’,and the only way to address those needs is to fully understand what each client is looking for. That requires listening.
We passionately listen to what our customer’s want so we can make sure we build and deliver it.
Testing
At Fogsoft, we’re unwilling to compromise on quality. Everything we do must be excellent. But it’s impossible to know how good (or bad) a piece of code or software is without a lot of testing.
Fortunately, testing is a key component of the Extreme Programming methodology, so we aggressively test our creations repeatedly.
We test to make sure the products we create live up to our clients expectations, and we test to make sure the code behind our products doesn’t break at the first sign of trouble.
In fact, we intentionally try to break the code we create in our tests, and we don’t consider testing complete until we’re no longer able to break the code we’ve written.
Listening
The products we create at Fogsoft must address the needs of our clients’, and the only way to address those needs is to fully understand what each client is looking for. That requires listening.
We passionately listen to what our customer’s want so we can make sure we build and deliver it.
Listening leads to understanding, and understanding leads to success.
Designing
The fourth and final pillar upon which Extreme Programming is built is Designing.
While it might seem as though coding, testing, and listening, should be enough, without designing, the other three can fall apart.
Designing is all about creating a fluid structure that’s easy to follow because everything is organized in a logical, systematic way. In Extreme Programming, good designing is intuitive, free from unnecessary dependencies in the code, and highly durable.
Why is Adaptability of Extreme Programming Valuable?
In any development project, things change. No matter how meticulously the details (the timelines, the budgets, the functions, the features) are planned out, unforeseen adjustments will come up.
Being able to identify and rapidly implement these changes mid-project is far more efficient than trying to implement them after the initial project has been fully completed, and far more realistic than trying to resist the changes altogether.
And because Extreme Programming mandates that developers, project managers, and customers must adhere to specially designated roles, the development process is extraordinarily agile, and able to respond to customer needs better than many other development methods.
The Values of Extreme Programming
At Fogsoft, we use Extreme Programming as a means of organizing and implementing our team in a highly-efficient way that produces top-quality software. To do that, we strictly adhere to the five fundamental values of the Extreme Programing framework. First, the Values
Communication
Successful software development requires crystal clear communication between clients, project managers, and developers. Without that communication, nothing gets done. Extreme Programming encourages open-communication and collaboration at every stage, so everyone involved in the project has a shared view of both current progress and the end-goal. Designs are kept simple, colloquialisms are used, and uncensored feedback is encouraged.
Simplicity
Simplicity is to be revered rather than rejected—the less complicated a solution, the better. We will focus on the things we can do today, as opposed to trying to envision every need of tomorrow. By encouraging simplicity, we can create solutions in the most cost-efficient and time-efficient way possible. Simplicity also means any mistakes made, or adjustments required during the development process will be easy to resolve.
Feedback
Feedback from both the customer and our team is to be encouraged at all times. Every comment, every suggestion, every observation will be listened to and considered carefully—nothing will be dismissed, and changes will be made as they are determined necessary. The project will adapt to the feedback.
Courage
Courage is about knowing that we are programming for today. Our job isn’t to anticipate every future need, it’s to do the best we can with the knowledge that we have. As inputs and requirements change, we will change with them. We will have the courage to rise to a challenge whenever one presents itself. We will not fear modifying or deleting code when it outlives its usefulness.
Respect
At Fogsoft, we will respect the ideas and inputs of everyone, from our oldest client to our newest team member. We will respect each project equally, and always strive to do our very best work. We will respect the environment of the workplace, whether we’re working on-site or remotely, and we will respect ourselves and our work.
Lowering Costs for Our Clients…You!
One of the greatest benefits of Extreme Programming, is its ability to lower the costs commonly associated with product adjustment.
When developers and their development processes aren’t agile, project requirements have to ironed-out from Day One. And if those requirements have to change, the costs can quickly balloon out of control.
But in Extreme Programing, adjustments and changes aren’t just accounted for—they’re expected.
That means our developers don’t need to create “complete,” end-to-end solutions that account for every potential client requirement right away. Instead, they can develop solutions as they’re needed by our clients.
When our client’s objectives change due to fluctuations in industry standards or customer expectations, our developers have the ability and the bandwidth to respond without difficulty, even if the change requests occur late in the product-development lifecycle.
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