The Integrative Stream

Agile Software vs. Big Design

Joel Spolsky takes a clear stance against “eXtreme Programming.”

Software development methodology is hard. I’m not particularly advocate of either main approach – not “Big Design Up Front” or “Agile” (which, for those not familiar, can be summed up as rapid iterations based on evolving requirements, although purists will tell you there’s a lot more to it than that). I’ve used both, and when I managed software development teams the process we used was generally a hybrid. I don’t think Spolsky’s anti-XP example holds as argument, since it’s entirely possible that the change he’s discussing would have become evident much earlier if the team had been using an Agile process. Or, possibly not.

Like most technology debates, this one isn’t going to end, partially because there’s no way to get reasonable comparative data, other than by designing some very, very expensive simulations, developing a range of products at least twice.

More on software management as this blog continues.