Reading Blog: Extreme Programming Installed Ch 1 - 3

Reference Information:
Extreme Programming Installed
Ron Jeffries; Ann Anderson; Chet Hendrickson
Addison-Wesley Professional, October 16, 2000


Summary:
The reading begins by explaining the role of a customer in an XP project and how they decide what is of business value. They inform programmers of the specification with stories- verbal communication explaining how the system needs to work. They also manage the project in respect to the amount of work that can be done by a programmer in a given time. For programmers, the emphasis is on programming. The software is to be built in small releases. This calls for continuous design, rapid feedback, and maintenance of code. Also, sharing the code will be a necessity in XP. The managers role in the XP process is to make the work of the programmers easier by managing anything that may interfere, out of the way, in order for work to get done. Managers also set up meeting before release planning and serve as the middle man for the programmers during the meeting scheduling. Mainly, the manager makes sure everything goes smoothly and stays on track. The reading goes further by explaining the rights of each of the roles. The book explains the "circle of life" in XP by indicating the role of the customer and the role of the programmer in terms of defining and delivering value as well as estimating costs for the customer to choose values. The process is a learning experience for all and leads to success. Customers who are on site provide more value to the project but is understandable that sometimes they can always be there. When this happens the it is best to locate a representative for the company locally for the programming but try to get the real representative there for the meetings. Sending the programmers to the customer is also an excellent way to keep the project flowing. Lastly, if all else fails, make sure the customer can see the released code.

Discussion:
I enjoyed this reading, having done some small extreme programming in another class. It is a different way of programming but I do see the results. These chapters helped me get a better understanding of what I was doing when doing the sample XP. This cleared up some of the roles and responsibilities as well as presented new ones to each of the three groups (customers, programmers, and managers).I know this is only just the tip of the iceberg of XP and look forward to reading more. This will prove extremely helpful in managing our groups for this senior capstone design course.