Agile Manifesto
Manifesto for Agile Software Development
The Agile Manifesto is a few-line document signed on February 11-13, 2001 at Snowbird, Utah, by seventeen developers gathered to discuss alternatives to the heavyweight software development methods of the time (primarily RUP). It had a cultural impact such that it redefined the vocabulary of software project management for the two decades that followed.
What it says #
Four pairs of values, each in the form “X over Y” (we prefer X to Y, without throwing Y away):
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change over following a plan
Below the four pairs, twelve principles that translate them into operational practices (frequent delivery, welcoming change, business-developer collaboration, sustainable pace, etc.).
Who signed it #
Seventeen developers, including Kent Beck (XP), Ward Cunningham (wiki), Martin Fowler (refactoring), Jim Highsmith, Andrew Hunt and David Thomas (The Pragmatic Programmer), Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob), Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland (Scrum), Mike Beedle, Arie van Bennekum, Alistair Cockburn, James Grenning, Ron Jeffries, Jon Kern, Brian Marick, Steve Mellor.
What changed afterwards #
In the ten years that followed, Scrum, XP (Extreme Programming) and Kanban became the standard vocabulary of the development team. RUP, in many contexts, stopped being proposed in new projects. It’s worth remembering, however, that many of the Manifesto’s ideas were not new — user stories, sprints, iterations had roots in the UML/RUP world. What the Manifesto changed was the dosage (lighter), not the conceptual invention.