COSC 319 Chapter #2

What are the three main objectives of agile software engineering?

Deliver functionality quickly, respond quickly to changing product specifications, and minimize development overheads.

What is incremental development and delivery?

The development and delivery of a software product in discrete stages.

List five agile development principles.

Involve the customer, embrace change, develop and deliver incrementally, maintain simplicity, focus on people not process.

What are the most widely adopted Extreme Programming practices?

Incremental planning/user stories, small releases, test-driven development, continuous integration, and refactoring.

How are XP teams managed?

Management is a collective team activity, with no designated project manager.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a framework for agile project organization.

What is the principal responsibility of the Product Owner in a Scrum team.

Ensuring that the development team are always focused on the product that they are building.

What is a ‘potentially shippable product increment’?

An increment that is of product-quality.

List five benefits of using Scrum.

Unstable requirements don't hold up progress, stakeholders can relate to product increments, customers see on-time delivery of increments, team communication is improved, and trust is established between developers and customers.

What are the principal product backlog activities in Scrum?

Refinement, estimation, creation, and prioritization.

What factors should be taken into account when deciding how many story points are required to complete a backlog item.

The size of the task, its complexity, the technology required, and the unknown characteristics of the work.

What is meant by a Scrum development team’s velocity?

The amount of work a team completes during a fixed-length sprint.

Briefly explain the three main benefits of using timeboxed sprints.

Demonstrable progress where there is a tangible output at the end of each sprint, work planning where the team understands how much work can be completed, and problem discovery so that rework required is limited to the duration of the sprint.

What three things should a Scrum team do when planning a sprint?

Establish an agreed sprint goal, decide on PBI's that should be implemented, and create a sprint backlog.

What is a Scrum?

A daily meeting where the team discusses what has been achieved and coordinate their work for the day.

What technical activities from XP should always be used in a Scrum development process?

Test automation and continuous integration.

List the items that might be part of a code completeness checklist.

Reviewed, unit tested, integrated, integration tested, and accepted.

What is a self-organizing team?

A development team that makes their own decisions about work allocation, coordination, schedule, and external interactions.

Why does informal verbal communication not always work as a means of team coordination?

Team members may not work full-time, work remotely, or are working on several projects at once and cannot be available for daily scrums.

What are the three principal project management activities? For each of these, list two associated activities that are management responsibilities.

Reporting to company management (about risk, progress, budget), administration (managing compliance, procurement of equipment, approving expenditure), and people management (managing absences, work reviews, hiring).