Editing Agile software development (section)

== Values and principles <span class="anchor" id="The Agile Manifesto"></span> ==

=== Values ===
The agile manifesto reads:<ref name="AgileManifesto" />

''We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:''

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

''That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.''

[[Scott Ambler]] explained:<ref name="abmmw">
{{cite web |url=http://www.ambysoft.com/essays/agileManifesto.html |title=Examining the Agile Manifesto |publisher=Ambysoft Inc.
|access-date=6 April 2011}}</ref>
* Tools and processes are important, but it is more important to have competent people working together effectively.
*Good documentation is useful in helping people to understand how the software is built and how to use it, but the main point of development is to create software, not documentation.
*A contract is important but is not a substitute for working closely with customers to discover what they need.
*A project plan is important, but it must not be too rigid to accommodate changes in technology or the environment, stakeholders' priorities, and people's understanding of the problem and its solution.

Introducing the manifesto on behalf of the Agile Alliance, [[Jim Highsmith]] said,
{{Blockquote
|text=The Agile movement is not anti-methodology, in fact many of us want to restore credibility to the word methodology. We want to restore a balance. We embrace modeling, but not in order to file some diagram in a dusty corporate repository. We embrace documentation, but not hundreds of pages of never-maintained and rarely-used tomes. We plan, but recognize the limits of planning in a turbulent environment. Those who would brand proponents of XP or SCRUM or any of the other Agile Methodologies as "hackers" are ignorant of both the methodologies and the original definition of the term hacker.|sign=Jim Highsmith
|author=Jim Highsmith
|source=History: The Agile Manifesto<ref>
{{cite web 
      | url=http://agilemanifesto.org/history.html 
      | title=History: The Agile Manifesto 
      |year=2001 
      |author=Jim Highsmith
      |author-link=Jim Highsmith
      |publisher=agilemanifesto.org}}
</ref>}}

=== {{anchor|Agile principles}} Principles ===

The values are based on these principles:<ref name="ManifestoPrinciples">
{{cite web
|url=http://www.agilemanifesto.org/principles.html 
|title=Principles behind the Agile Manifesto 
|year=2001 
|publisher=Agile Alliance 
|author=Kent Beck |author2=James Grenning |author3-link=Robert Cecil Martin 
|author3=Robert C. Martin |author4=Mike Beedle |author5-link=Jim Highsmith 
|author5=Jim Highsmith |author6-link=Stephen J. Mellor 
|author6=Steve Mellor |author7=Arie van Bennekum |author8-link=Andy Hunt (author) 
|author8=Andrew Hunt |author9-link=Ken Schwaber 
|author9=Ken Schwaber |author10-link=Alistair Cockburn 
|author10=Alistair Cockburn |author11-link=Ron Jeffries 
|author11=Ron Jeffries |author12-link=Jeff Sutherland 
|author12=Jeff Sutherland |author13-link=Ward Cunningham 
|author13=Ward Cunningham |author14=Jon Kern |author15-link=Dave Thomas (programmer) 
|author15=Dave Thomas |author16-link=Martin Fowler (software engineer) 
|author16=Martin Fowler
|author17=Brian Marick 
|access-date=6 June 2010 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100614043008/http://www.agilemanifesto.org/principles.html 
|archive-date=14 June 2010 
|url-status=live
|author-link=Kent Beck 
}}</ref>
# Customer satisfaction by early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
# Welcome changing requirements, even in late development.
# Deliver working software frequently (weeks rather than months).
# Close, daily cooperation between business people and developers.
# Projects are built around motivated individuals, who should be trusted.
# Face-to-face conversation is the best form of communication (co-location).
# Working software is the primary measure of progress.
# Sustainable development, able to maintain a constant pace.
# Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design.
# Simplicity—the art of maximizing the amount of work {{Not a typo|not}} done—is essential.
# Best [[Agile Architecture|architectures]], requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
# Regularly, the team reflects on how to become more effective, and adjusts accordingly.