Editing Agile software development (section)

{{short description|Umbrella term for certain approaches to software development}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Software development process|Paradigms and models}}

'''Agile software development''' is an umbrella term for approaches to [[software development|developing software]] that reflect the values and principles agreed upon by ''The Agile Alliance'', a group of 17 software practitioners, in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |title=What is Agile? |url=https://www.agilealliance.org/agile101/ |website=Agile Alliance |date=29 June 2015 |access-date=16 July 2024}}</ref> As documented in their ''Manifesto for Agile Software Development'' the practitioners value:<ref name="AgileManifesto">{{cite web|author=Kent Beck|author-link=Kent Beck|author2=James Grenning|author3=Robert C. Martin|author3-link=Robert Cecil Martin|author4=Mike Beedle|author5=Jim Highsmith|author5-link=Jim Highsmith|author6=Steve Mellor|author6-link=Stephen J. Mellor|author7=Arie van Bennekum|author8=Andrew Hunt|author8-link=Andy Hunt (author)|author9=Ken Schwaber|author9-link=Ken Schwaber|year=2001|title=Manifesto for Agile Software Development|url=http://agilemanifesto.org/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=14 June 2010|website=|publisher=Agile Alliance|author12=Jeff Sutherland|author10-link=Alistair Cockburn|author10=Alistair Cockburn|author11-link=Ron Jeffries|author11=Ron Jeffries|author13-link=Ward Cunningham|author17=Brian Marick|author16=Martin Fowler|author16-link=Martin Fowler (software engineer)|author15=Dave Thomas|author15-link=David A. Thomas (software developer)|author14=Jon Kern|author13=Ward Cunningham|author12-link=Jeff Sutherland}}</ref> 

* Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
* Working software over comprehensive documentation
* Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
* Responding to change over following a plan

The practitioners cite inspiration from new practices at the time including [[extreme programming]], [[Scrum (software development)|scrum]], [[dynamic systems development method]], [[adaptive software development]] and being sympathetic to the need for an alternative to documentation driven, heavyweight software development processes.<ref name="LarmanGuide" />

Many software development practices emerged from the agile mindset. These agile-based practices, sometimes called ''Agile'' (with a capital A)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rallydev.com/blog/engineering/agile-capital-vs-agile-lowercase |title=Agile With a Capital "A" Vs. agile With a Lowercase "a" |last=Rally |date=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105105258/https://www.rallydev.com/blog/engineering/agile-capital-vs-agile-lowercase |archive-date=5 January 2016 |url-status=unfit |access-date=9 September 2015 }}</ref> include requirements, discovery and solutions improvement through the collaborative effort of [[Self-organizing communities|self-organizing]] and [[cross-functional team|cross-functional]] teams with their [[Customer|customer(s)]]/[[End user|end user(s)]].{{sfn|Collier|2011}}<ref name="WhatIsAgile">{{cite web|url = http://www.agilealliance.org/the-alliance/what-is-agile/|title = What is Agile Software Development?|date = 8 June 2013|access-date = 4 April 2015|publisher = Agile Alliance}}</ref>

While there is much [[anecdotal evidence]] that the agile mindset and agile-based practices improve the software development process, the empirical evidence is limited and less than conclusive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dybå|first1=Tore|last2=Dingsøyr|first2=Torgeir|title=Empirical studies of agile software development: A systematic review|journal=Information and Software Technology|date=1 August 2008|volume=50|issue=9–10|pages=833–859|doi=10.1016/j.infsof.2008.01.006|s2cid=2244031 |language=en|issn=0950-5849}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lee|first1=Gwanhoo|last2=Xia|first2=Weidong|s2cid=26477249|date=2010|title=Toward Agile: An Integrated Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Field Data on Software Development Agility|journal=MIS Quarterly|volume=34|issue=1|pages=87–114|doi=10.2307/20721416|jstor=20721416}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kroll |first1=J. |last2=Richardson |first2=I. |last3=Prikladnicki |first3=R. |last4=Audy |first4=J. L. |date=2018 |title=Empirical evidence in follow the Sun software development: A systematic mapping study |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2017.08.011 |journal=Information and Software Technology |volume=93 |pages=30–44 | doi=10.1016/j.infsof.2017.08.011|hdl=10344/6233 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

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