Instructors

Frank Maurer, University of Calgary
Grigori Melnik, University of Calgary

Abstract

A fleet of emerging agile methods is both gaining popularity and generating lots of controversy. Real-world examples argue for and against agile methods. This high-level overview tutorial provides background to understand how agile teams are trying to solve software development issues. A detailed comparison of agile methods vs. Tayloristic methods is given. This is followed by an examination of the main practices of individual methods (including eXtreme Programming, Scrum, Lean and others). The facilitatorsí vision on where agile methods are on the innovation adoption curve is presented. In order to highlight agile methods' strengths and limitations, a number of industry cases (both successes and failures) are presented. The participants will discuss what is needed for agile methods to cross the chasm and move into the mainstream of software development. Among other topics, the tutorial addresses the issues of knowledge sharing, project management, social aspects and implications of agile methods.

This tutorial is aimed at developers, managers, QA specialists, business customers and academics who would like to acquire basic knowledge of underlying agile practices as well as to discuss - from a business perspective - the benefits of and issues with applying agile approaches. No prior experience with agile methods needed.

Biographies

Frank Maurer is a Professor and an Associate Head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Calgary. His research interests are agile software methodologies, e-Business software engineering, Web engineering, globally distributed software development, experience and knowledge management. He is a member of Agile Alliance and a Certified Scrum Master. He is also a founding member of The Canadian Agile Network - Le RÈseau Agile Canadien and a founding member of the board of the Calgary Agile Methods User Group. Frank Maurer was also involved with the agile community as: a Program Co-chair for XP Agile Universe 2003, Workshops Chair for XP Agile Universe 2002 and a member of the Program Committee of XP Agile Universe 2004. Dr. Maurer was the program committee member and/or program committee chair of various conferences and workshops in the areas of software engineering, knowledge engineering, agile methods, and distributed software development.

Grigori Melnik is a researcher and an educator with extensive academic and industrial experience. He is currently an Instructor at the University of Calgary and a Lead Instructor at SAIT Polytechnic. Grigori holds MSc in Applied Mathematics, MSc in Economics and is currently finishing PhD in Computer Science. He is a Killam Fellow and an NSERC Award Winner. Grigoriís research areas include empirical evaluation of agile methods, executable acceptance test-driven development, domain-driven design, e-business software engineering, Semantic web, and distributed/group cognition in software teams. Grigori has also been involved in several high-profile industrial projects (including Microsoft Canada Money, Microsoft Canada SmallBiz and Pan-Canadian Online Learning portals). More recently he has served as a founding moderator of Calgary Agile Methods User Group and a coordinator of The Canadian Agile Network. Grigori is a Certified Scrum Master and a member of ACM, Agile Alliance, CADE, IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, IFPUG, and SIAM.