Grigori Melnik

Knowledge sharing: agile methods vs. Tayloristic methods

This paper presents a comparative analysis of knowledge sharing approaches of agile and Tayloristic (traditional) software development teams. Issues of knowledge creation, knowledge conversion and transfer, continuous learning, competence management and team composition are discussed. Experience repositories and other tools for knowledge dissemination are examined.

On the success of empirical studies in the international conference on software engineering

Critiques of the quantity and quality of empirical evaluations in software engineering have existed for quite some time. However such critiques are typically not empirically evaluated. This paper fills this gap by empirically analyzing papers published by ICSE, the prime research conference on Software Engineering. We present quantitative and qualitative results of a quasi-random experiment of empirical evaluations over the lifetime of the conference. Our quantitative results show the quantity of empirical evaluation has increased over 29 ICSE proceedings but we still have room to improve the soundness of empirical evaluations in ICSE proceedings. Our qualitative results point to specific areas of improvement in empirical evaluations.

Direct verbal communication as a catalyst of agile knowledge sharing

This paper discusses the role of conversation and social interactions as the key element of effective knowledge sharing in an agile process. It also presents the observations made during a repeated experiment on knowledge sharing conducted in various groups of professionals and students. The study suggests that the focus on the pure codified approach is the critical reason of Tayloristic team failure to effectively share knowledge among all stakeholders of a software project. Drawing on the knowledge-as-relationship perspective of knowledge sharing we theorize that verbal face-to-face interaction facilitates achieving higher velocity by software development teams.

A cross-program investigation of students' perceptions of agile methods

Research was conducted on using agile methods in software engineering education. This paper explores the perceptions of students from five different academic levels of agile practices. Information has been gathered through the collection of quantitative and qualitative data over three academic years, and analysis reveals student experiences, mainly positive but also some negative. Student opinions indicate the preference to continue to use agile practices at the workplace if allowed. A way these findings may potentially be extrapolated to the industrial settings is discussed. Finally, this report should encourage other academics considering adoption of agile methods in their computer science or software engineering curricula.

Comparative analysis of job satisfaction in agile and non-agile software development teams

Software engineering is fundamentally driven by economics. One of the issues that software teams face is employee turnover which has a serious economic impact. The effect of job dissatisfaction on high turnover is consistently supported by evidence from multiple disciplines. The study investigates if and how job satisfaction relates to development processes that are being used and the determinants of job satisfaction across a wide range of teams, regions and employees. A moderate positive correlation between the level of experience with agile methods and the overall job satisfaction was found. The evidence suggests that there are twice as many members of agile teams who are satisfied with their jobs (vs members of non-agile teams). The ability to influence decisions that affect you, the opportunity to work on interesting projects, and the relationships with users were found to be statistic-cally significant satisfiers.

Guest Editors' Introduction: TDD--The Art of Fearless Programming

Test-driven development is a discipline of design and programming where every line of new code is written in response to a test the programmer writes just before coding. This special issue of IEEE Software includes seven feature articles on various aspects of TDD and a Point/Counterpoint debate on the use of mock objects in applying it. The articles demonstrate the ways TDD is being used in nontrivial situations (database development, embedded software development, GUI development, performance tuning), signifying an adoption level for the practice beyond the visionary phase and into the early mainstream. In this introduction to the special issue on TDD, the guest editors also summarize selected TDD empirical studies from industry and academia.

Executable acceptance tests for communicating business requirements: customer perspective

Using an experimental method, we found that customers, partnered with an IT professional, are able to use executable acceptance test (storytest)-based specifications to communicate and validate functional business requirements. However, learnability and ease of use analysis indicates that an average customer may experience difficulties learning the technique. Several additional propositions are evaluated and usage observations made

Suitability of FIT User Acceptance Tests for Specifying Functional Requirements: Developer Perspective

The paper outlines an experiment conducted in two different academic environments, in which FIT tests were used as a functional requirements specification. Common challenges for functional requirements specifications are identified, and a comparison is made between how well prose and FIT user acceptance tests are suited to overcoming these challenges from the developer’s perspective. Experimental data and participant feedback are examined to evaluate whether developers can use requirements in the form of FIT tests to create a design and implementation.

Multiple perspectives on executable acceptance test-driven development

This descriptive case study is about the dynamics of a software engineering team using executable acceptance test-driven development in a real world project. The experiences of a customer, a developer, and a tester were discussed. The observed consensus among multiple stakeholders speaks of the effectiveness of the practice in the given context.

Agile methods: moving towards the mainstream of the software industry

A fleet of emerging agile methods of software development (with eXtreme Programming and Scrum being the most broadly used) is both gaining popularity and generating lots of controversy. This high-level tutorial gives an overview of agile methods and provides background to understand how agile teams are trying to address modern software development challenges. Analysis of initial empirical evidence is used to discuss strengths and limitations of agile methods in various contexts. The participants are introduced to the innovation diffusion models and environments, and discuss what is needed for agile methods to cross the chasm and move into the mainstream of software development.