Better Software West 2017 Concurrent Session - Software Craftsmanship in an Agile Environment | TechWell

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Wednesday, June 7, 2017 - 2:45pm to 3:45pm

Software Craftsmanship in an Agile Environment

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In the past two decades agile has become the popular development methodology. Businesses have been rushing to adopt agile processes because it promises to save money and deliver working software more quickly. However, for many businesses, software quality has not improved—and often has gotten worse. In response, some software engineering leaders found it necessary to create the software craftsmanship movement. Why has agile failed to deliver on its promise of higher quality software? What can be done about it? What solutions do these craftsmen offer? Chris McKenzie explains that the core problem is the failure of engineers to properly communicate the value of technical excellence in business terms. Businesses have abandoned cumbersome processes in favor of agile processes including Scrum and kanban. However, the expectation of increased velocity coupled with a failure to understand the technical requirements of supporting increased change mean that agile processes are set against quality. Gain a deeper understanding of the communication failure among business, project management, and technical roles. Learn to address the issue of quality head-on and reap the promised rewards of agile.

Chris McKenzie
Parametric Portfolio Associates

Master software engineer at Parametric Portfolio Associates in Seattle, Chris McKenzie has dedicated his career to the pursuit of technical excellence. With seventeen years of experience writing software, Chris is a trainer and mentor for others, leading an internship program that Parametric uses to funnel gifted beginners into the software development department. He is particularly interested in finding the "pit of success" with whichever technology stack is being used so it's faster and easier to do the right thing. He maintains a blog where he discusses whatever is on his mind at the moment. Follow Chris on Twitter @ISuperGeek.