14. “It therefore seems natural that we
should turn to [architects] for
ideas about how to attack the
design problem. As one single
example [...] I would like to
mention: Christopher Alexander...”
-- Peter Naur
15. 1. Where we came from, and why it matters
2. Popular but not successful?
3. Disruption
4. A matter of values
5. Challenges, and a call to action
16. “An idea whose time has
come... and gone” -- Tom
DeMarco, 2009
19. • Are high-level languages preferable to low-
level languages, such as assembly?
(Though assembly still has its fans today...)
• Is programming under “online” conditions,
i.e. interactively, more effective than
“offline”, i.e. giving someone your code to
compile?
(“Cleanroom” proponents disagree,
though.)
21. “The realization of the full
magnitude of the software crisis
was the main outcome of the
meeting at Garmisch”
-- Brian Randell, 1969
22. “The general admission of the
existence of the software failure
[...] is the most refreshing
experience I have had in a number
of years, because the admission of
shortcomings is the primary
condition for improvement.” --
E.W. Dijkstra, 1968
24. “...a triumph of misapplied
quotation.”
-- Doug McIllroy on the 1968
NATO conference proceedings
25. “One of the brighter students (by the
name of L. da Vinci) was instantly promoted to
manager of the
project, putting him in charge of procuring
paints, canvases and
brushes for the rest of the organisation”
-- T.H.Simpson, “Masterpiece Engineering”,
26. “Any new idea eventually either
goes ignored, or gets distorted.”
-- Alistair Cockburn, 2011
28. “The programming manager has
found the euphemism with which
to lend an air of respectability to
what he does: ‘software
engineering’.” -- E.W. Dijkstra,
29. “Software Engineering as it is
today is just humbug; from an
academic — i.e. scientific and
educational — point of view it is a
sham, a fraud..” -- E.W. Dijkstra,
1993
41. • Agile in contrast values “letting go” -
• while strongly supportive of technique,
deemphasizes formal methods
• embraces “soft” sciences and “people
stuff” - but cognitive science, social
psychology are quite respectable
• rejects mechanistic or “industrial”
worldview
45. Expansion of Agile
60+ practices
Lean, Governance,
DevOps production
Maintenance,
Kanban, UX
Personas
XP, teams of 5-10
Scrum collocated
greenfield
12+6 practices
46. • Agile as disruptive innovation in a control-
obsessed approach:
• Inadequate initially
• Targets “low end” market
• Gradually makes up for inadequacies
47. 1. Where we came from, and why it matters
2. Popular but not successful?
3. Disruption
4. A matter of values
5. Challenges, and a call to action
53. Little empirical proof
• Research findings on e.g. TDD or
refactoring are mixed
• Many practices are unexamined altogether
(planning poker...)
• Several subjective surveys, but few efforts
to collect project/practice/outcome data
55. Agile education?
• Overemphasis on “certification” schemes
which are fundamentally misguided -
competing with S.E. on its home ground of
control
• Occasional attempts at university programs
• Suffer from loose contact with research
community
56. Recap
1. To understand Agile, know its history
2. SW Engineering is entrenched, not successful
3. Agile follows pattern of disruptive innovation
4. Has different focus: brains, people, groups
5. Must still meet many challenges
