Serve the starter first
You cook a big meal for 10 guests. You could make everything and serve it all at 9 pm. Or you could serve a starter (a small first dish) at 7 pm and ask: "Do you like it?"
The second way finds problems early. Guests are fed sooner. This is the idea behind Agile: deliver a little, often, and learn.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Agile | A way of working in short rounds, delivering a little at a time. | a new version every 2 weeks |
| Increment | A small piece of working software that adds something new. | the basket screen |
| Sprint | A short, fixed period of work, often 2 weeks. | build the login screen |
| Points | Numbers that show how big a piece of work is. More points means more work. | a login screen is 5 points |
| Epic | A very big piece of work that is split into stories. | Manage my account |
| Story | A small user need that fits in a sprint. | As a user, I want to reset my password |
| Spike | A short piece of research or a trial to learn something, before you build. | try a new payment service for 2 days |
| Scaled Agile | Agile for very big projects, with many teams working together. | a bank with 10 teams |
| Product increment | A bigger release made when several teams finish their parts together. | version 2.0 of the app |
| Requirement | Something the software must do or be. | pay by card |
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Quick check: Agile words
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Quick check: Agile words
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From big to small
| Level | Size | Pizza app example |
|---|---|---|
| Epic | Months of work | Ordering |
| Story | A few days | As a customer, I want to choose a pizza size, so that I get what I want. |
| Task | Hours | Draw the size buttons |
| Spike | A day or two of learning | Can we get live delivery times from the map service? |
| Sprint | Two weeks | A box that holds the stories for these two weeks |
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Key features of Agile
| Feature | What it means |
|---|---|
| Incremental delivery | Software arrives in small working pieces |
| Quality first, features later | The first version is small but good |
| Change is welcome | The client can change the requirements at any time |
| Light documents | Little formal paperwork. The team writes only what it needs |
| Users see working software every round | Feedback comes early |
| A cheap, fast first product | A small first version costs less and reaches users sooner |
| A cancelled project is not a total loss | There is some useful code already |
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Light documents are a risk
data-callouts.warning.label
Agile teams write fewer documents. This can be a problem when new people join, or when the team must prove what was agreed. Good teams still write down what matters.
Quick check: true or false?
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Quick check: true or false?
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.