Are you pair-programming in New Zealand?

I’ve just been engaged in very interesting discussion of pair programming with Arlo Belshee.  Unlike me, Arlo has lots of successful experience with pairing.  If you’ve been following my recent posts on pairing, I definitely recommend that you check out Arlo’s new comments on them, and also his own post and its comments here. He… Read More

Pair Programming Wrap-Up

I previously blogged about the nature of expertise, and resulting questions about the efficiency of expert-expert pairings.  Here I’d like to tidy up some loose ends with regard to the relationship between expertise and pair programming. How does expertise develop? Kahneman’s book points out that expertise develops, virtually inevitably, when a practitioner has long experience… Read More

Expertise versus Pair Programming

Let’s start this post with a thought experiment.  Not in software development, but in playing chess. Imagine two novice chess players, working as a team. (We’ll assume their opponent is a computer, so it can’t overhear them talk.)  Our two novices will benefit greatly from their collaboration.  They’ll discuss all their thinking – everything from… Read More

Ambiguity

Alistair Cockburn wrote Agile development calls for a certain amount of ambiguity and flux in the project. Not everyone enjoys ambiguity and flux. I would suggest that most people don’t. A very good point.  I think this affects some agile implementations – causing them to back away from being really agile, into a no-man’s-land between… Read More

Email Subscriptions

You can now subscribe to email updates from this blog.  This should be handy if you prefer email to RSS.  Just go to the new Subscribe page on the menu bar. PS If you spot any problems with the email subscription, please let me know.  I’ve never used this particular email plug-in before, so I… Read More

It’s Alive!

My new Agile scope management tool is now live! It’s called Tactyle, in reference to its emphasis on touching and interacting with the content of your project.  Other key design principles include: simple, effective, and fully-automated Earned Value – in keeping with my blog posts in recent years suitable for fixed price and/or fixed scope… Read More

Looking for beta testers for agile tool

After years of thinking about it, and months of actually developing it, I’m now looking for beta testers for a brand new agile tool.  If you like the sound of “Story Mapping + Big Visible Charts + Simplicity”, send me an email (address here), and I’ll reply with a link to the product.  If you… Read More

Conversation with the Situation – a Software Example

As I posted recently, professionals in many fields work by having a “conversation with the situation”.  What does this really mean, in software development?  To answer that question, I’ve decided to share a recent design episode from a system I’m working on.  I’ll try to capture the full “conversation with the situation” – both my… Read More

Compliance to Spec Considered Unprofessional

In keeping with the theme of this blog, which is “the neglected essentials of software development”, I’d like to share something I’ve learned recently. It’s about how Professional people in other fields think – people like architects, town planners and doctors.… Read More