Reality Over Rhetoric: Busting Some of the Myths Around Agile

Many myths surround agile software development: agile has been adopted by the majority of development teams; agile approaches are more effective than waterfall approaches; agile teams don't do up front requirements or architecture; agile teams produce less documentation; it is common for agile teams to take a test-driven approach; and many more. A few of these are true, many are false, and some we're not so sure about yet. Scott Ambler summarizes the results of his five years of industry studies concerning the adoption and effectiveness of agile techniques. Very often the reality is significantly different than the rhetoric presented in discussion groups, articles, and books. We are, in fact, applying agile techniques in complex situations, on large and/or distributed teams, under regulatory compliance constraints, and even at the enterprise level. It is time to cut through the dogma and focus on what agile practitioners are actually doing on their projects and in their organizations.