An introduction to Agile
To understand the context in which these challenges lie, it is important to understand the dominant product development process, known colloquially as Waterfall. Waterfall was used for many years to develop cathedrals and rocket ships, but when the process was used for developing software, the strains of it were beginning to show, highlighting inadequacies against the challenges of meeting a shrinking TTM and satisfying customer needs. Something had to be done.
Next, let’s look at the emergence of Agile methods from the initial attempts to incorporate Lean thinking into software development, to the creation of the Agile Manifesto and the emergence of Agile practices and frameworks.
The rise and fall of Waterfall
The method known as Waterfall had its origins in traditional product development. Workers would divide up the work into specific phases, not moving to the next phase until the current phase was completed.
In 1970, Winston W. Royce...