Book Image

Agile Technical Practices Distilled

By : Pedro M. Santos, Marco Consolaro, Alessandro Di Gioia
Book Image

Agile Technical Practices Distilled

By: Pedro M. Santos, Marco Consolaro, Alessandro Di Gioia

Overview of this book

The number of popular technical practices has grown exponentially in the last few years. Learning the common fundamental software development practices can help you become a better programmer. This book uses the term Agile as a wide umbrella and covers Agile principles and practices, as well as most methodologies associated with it. You’ll begin by discovering how driver-navigator, chess clock, and other techniques used in the pair programming approach introduce discipline while writing code. You’ll then learn to safely change the design of your code using refactoring. While learning these techniques, you’ll also explore various best practices to write efficient tests. The concluding chapters of the book delve deep into the SOLID principles - the five design principles that you can use to make your software more understandable, flexible and maintainable. By the end of the book, you will have discovered new ideas for improving your software design skills, the relationship within your team, and the way your business works.
Table of Contents (31 chapters)
Free Chapter
1
Section 1
7
Section 2
13
Section 3
19
Section 4
25
Chapter 21
28
License: CyberDojo

Chapter 1

Pair Programming

Pair programmers: Keep each other on task. Brainstorm refinements to the system. Clarify ideas. Take the initiative when their partner is stuck thus lowering frustration. Hold each other accountable to the team's practices.

– Kent Beck

When I started my career, I worked on software for television broadcast, mainly developing computer graphics for sports, news, and so on. Unknowingly, I was up for a stressful challenge as I could never be late.

No matter what, the TV broadcast would go on air at the scheduled time, so software had to be ready. When deadlines were approaching, I remember drinking too many coffees over long nights, pairing with my friend Rui to deliver in time. When we were too exhausted to continue, we would take turns, having a nap under the desks.

The first time I read about pairing, I skipped the lesson, as it was nothing new to me. I had been doing it for many years. What could I possibly learn?

...