Viviane A. Santos

The evolution of agile software development in Brazil

Agile software development methods have been increasingly adopted worldwide and became one of the mainstream software development approaches. Agile methods have also had an impact on software engineering education with universities adapting their courses to accommodate this new form of software development. Software engineering research has tried to evaluate the impact of agile methods in industrial projects and discover in which situations it is beneficial to apply such methods. However, there are almost no studies focusing on the progress of the agile movement in Brazil. In this paper, we present an overview of the evolution of the agile movement in Brazil, outlining the history of its first advocates in academia and industry. We describe existing educational initiatives, discuss the impact of the agile development on the national research, and present a report on the agile state-of-the-practice in the Brazilian IT industry.

Fostering effective inter-team knowledge sharing in agile software development

Agile methods have different practices that ultimately foster intra-team knowledge sharing (KS). However, they do not provide recommendations about coping with inter-team KS. Supporting inter-team KS is fundamental in scaling agility across the entire organization, and is regarded as the new horizon for agile software development. This study seeks to understand inter-team knowledge sharing effectiveness in agile software development organizations. Using grounded theory, we analyzed data from four Brazilian organizations and also from an expert in agile methods implementation. We observed that the companies employ different work practices that allow knowledge sharing to occur across team boundaries. Our main contribution is a conceptual model that explains how effective knowledge sharing across agile teams depends on applying purposeful practices, along with organizational conditions and stimuli. This understanding represents an innovative focus within the context of agile methods and suggests what one needs to take into account when striving on this path. Yet, it yields opportunities for further studies in refining and extending the model to other organizational contexts. Inter-team knowledge sharing reflects the way agile software development organizations are coping with enterprise agility and the way they consider knowledge as a resource for competitiveness.

Genesis and Evolution of the Agile Movement in Brazil -- Perspective from Academia and Industry

Agile software development methods have been increasingly adopted worldwide and became one of the mainstream software development approaches. Agile methods have also had an impact on software engineering education with universities adapting their courses to accommodate this new point of view of software development. Software engineering research has tried to evaluate the impact of agile methods in industrial projects and discover in which situations it is beneficial to apply such methods. However, there are still few studies focusing on the progress of the Agile Movement in Brazil.In this paper, we present an overview of the evolution of the Agile Movement in Brazil, outlining the history of its first advocates in academia and industry. We also describe existing educational initiatives and the impact of agile development on the national research and present a report on the agile state-of- the-practice in the Brazilian IT industry.

An Approach on Applying Organizational Learning in Agile Software Organizations

Agile software development (ASD) has been in evidence over the past years by encouraging changes on how software is developed [1]. However, agile methods strongly focus on empowering the project team in achieving its goals [2]. Little attention is given to creating insights and experiences to the organizational level [3]. Therefore, there is a challenge to overcome the barriers to scale the knowledge on the group level to the organizational level effectively [4].

Evaluation of entomopathogenic nematodes under laboratory and greenhouses conditions for the control of Spodoptera frugiperda

The increased corn planting grown in the late season crop and the use of a notillage planting system benefits the development of Spodoptera frugiperda, the main pest of corn crop. Thus, this study aimed to select entomopathogenic nematodes based on the mortality of S. frugiperda, and to adjust the nematode concentrations in the laboratory and evaluate the action of these organisms in greenhouse conditions. Seventeen nematode populations were tested at concentrations of 100, 250, and 500 infective juveniles (IJ)/larvae. The obtained data were submitted to the polynomial regression test. In the greenhouse, corn sowing was performed in plastic buckets with soil, corn straw, and water. After 7 days, Steinernema arenarium or Heterorhabditis sp. RSC02, and the larvae were added (40 larvae, one larvae/repetition). The data were submitted to the variance analysis and the Scott-Knott test (P<0.05). In the laboratory, tests with S. arenarium and Heterorhabditis sp. RSC02 caused mortality of 85 and 90%, respectively, being selected for the concentrations test. Concentrations of 150, 200, 250, 300, and 350IJ larvae-1 were tested. At a concentration of 200IJ larvae-1, S. arenarium and Heterorhabditis sp. RSC02 caused 100 and 97.6% mortality in laboratory, respectively, and in the greenhouse caused 77.5 and 87.5% mortality, respectively, when compared to the control (7.5%).

Movement of Heterorhabditis amazonensis and Steinernema arenarium in search of corn fall armyworm larvae in artificial conditions

Spodoptera frugiperda (Smith, 1797) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) is considered to be the main pest of maize crops in Brazil. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) may be used to control this pest and exhibit different, unique abilities to search for their hosts. The movement of EPN in relation to S. frugiperda was evaluated. To test for horizontal movement, a styrofoam enclosure filled with sand was divided into segments, nematodes were placed at the entrance to the enclosure and a larva was placed at the end of each division. The same approach was used to evaluate vertical movement; however, PVC pipes were used in this case. In general, the mortality was inversely proportional to the initial distance between host and nematodes. In the vertical displacement test, both nematodes were able to kill the larvae up to a distance of 25 cm. Therefore, the infective juveniles of H. amazonensis and S. arenarium can search out, infect and kill larvae of S. frugiperda at distances of up to 60 cm and 25 cm of horizontal and vertical displacement, respectively.

Virulence of entomopathogenic nematodes (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae and Heterorhabditidae) for the control of Diabrotica speciosa germar (coleoptera: chrysomelidae)

Os nematoides entomopatogenicos sao utilizados no controle biologico de pragas de solo, e sao promissores para o controle de D. speciosa. Neste trabalho, objetivou-se avaliar o potencial de especies nativas e exoticas de isolados de nematoides entomopatogenicos para o controle de D. speciosa, em condicoes de laboratorio e de casa de vegetacao. Verificou-se que todos os nematoides causaram mortalidade larval. Os mais virulentos foram Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 (94%), Steinernema glaseri (84%), Heterorhabditis sp. JPM04 (82%) e Heterorhabditis amazonensis RSC05 (78%). Nao houve efeito dos isolados Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 e S. glaseri em ovos. A mortalidade maxima de larvas de D. speciosa por Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 foi observada na concentracao de 300 JI / inseto, enquanto para S. glaseri a maior mortalidade foi obervada na concentracao de 200 JI/ inseto. O isolado Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 causou mais de 80% de mortalidade de pupas na concentracao de 250 IJ/ inseto. A virulencia de Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 e S. glaseri foi afetada pela temperatura. O isolado Heterorhabditis sp. RSC01 causou reducao na sobrevivencia da larvas em casa de vegetacao em todas as concentracoes de juvenis infectantes testadas e nao houve diferenca na mortalidade entre os diferentes tratamentos.

The Influence of Practices Adopted by Agile Coaching and Training to Foster Interaction and Knowledge Sharing in Organizational Practices

Corporate environments have acknowledged the role of agile coaches in agile methods implementation. An agile coach focuses on developing the potential of people and its application to obtain valuable results faster. This paper analyzes the influence of the practices adopted by an agile consultant for enhancing overall interactions and knowledge sharing, such as Open Space and Lightning Talks sessions. We analyze the influence of these practices in organizational practices, as a way to foster organizational learning. We found significant associations between practices and purposes, and also crossed the level of adoption and barriers for adoption of the practices by company experience on agile methods. Results show that the participants recognize the positive impacts of the practices, but they are not sufficient to change the organizational practices. Few participants continue to adopt them in their organizations. Most of them report obstacles regarding organizational conditions, such as culture and top management/leadership support.