Agile Software Development: Theoretical and Practical Outlook

Abstract

Agile Software development has become to be one of the most prominent approaches in the field of software engineering. The amount of empirical evidence is quickly building up and it is known that already one out of seven software companies use agile processes. Many of the major corporations have announced to pursue for agile solutions with the aim of improving dramatically the lead-times, costs and quality aspects. Little is still known about the theoretical underpinnings of agile approaches. This tutorial serves for two purposes. First it demonstrates how agile solutions are theoretically founded and then in very pragmatic terms shows a longitudinal four-year case study how F-Secure, an antivirus company, from Finland transformed from iterative development to agile development framework. The case study also demonstrates which solutions worked and which ones proved to offer serious obstacles in the way. Finally, the business impact of the agile development is outlined based on empirical data. The tutorial will consist of interactive lectures, exercises and group work. The tutorial is targeted to software engineers and managers as well as academics.