|
Connextra’s Development Approach
How we deliver robust solutions
– quickly
 Connextra
develops systems using eXtreme Programming (XP), a disciplined approach
to software development, which discards most of the traditional software
development thinking to date. XP helps the user discover what they
need by requiring them to write ‘stories’ which describe
a necessary function of the software. The stories guide the developer
in delivering tested, working software to meet this need every two
or three weeks. About four years old, XP has been shown to be successful
at companies like Bayerische Landesbank, Credit Suisse Life, Ford
Motor Company, UBS and Connextra.
The key benefits that XP produces are:
- Software matched against users’ needs
- Earlier return of investment – you get production code
results quickly
- Fast and low cost mid-term changes
Senior members of Connextra’s development staff are the leading
UK practitioners of XP, and speak regularly at object orientated technology
conferences in the UK and internationally.
Our approach to development
In our day-to-day activities we are constantly looking for ways
to improve our use of XP.
| MockObjects |
|
|
|
During the development of Connextra's first commercial product,
Sidewize, we pioneered the use of MockObjects when unit testing.
This concept is described in the paper, Endo Testing: Unit
Testing with Mock Objects, which was presented at the XP-2000
conference
^top
|
|
 |
| Iteration Board |
|
|
|
Once we have completed a planning game, the stories identified
for the next iteration of the product are mounted along the
top of the iteration board, and tasks relating to each story
are mounted in columns below. Developers volunteer for a particular
card, find a partner and take that card to a workstation for
development.
^top
|
|
 |
| Task Clips |
|
|
|
When working on a task, a pair of developers clip the task
card onto the side of their monitor where it acts as a reference
point for discussions about the work they are completing.
^top
|
|
 |
More Ideas
We are constantly coming up with new ideas which we feed back into
our development process.
For more information on eXtreme Programming visit any of the following
sites:
http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?ExtremeProgrammingRoadmap
http://www.xpdeveloper.com
http://www.xprogramming.com
http://www.extremeprogramming.org
http://www.amazon.co.uk
^top
|
