Agile Database Techniques: Effective Strategies for the Agile Software Developer

Chapter 23. How You Can Become Agile

Ouch! My paradigm just shifted.

If you're still reading this far in the book, chances are excellent that you think that there is something to the philosophies and techniques I describe. If so, good. Unfortunately, there is a big difference between reading about agility and actually becoming agile. You've already taken the most important step: you've decided to consider new ways to do things. Now, you need to follow through and actually internalize them.

I have three critical insights for becoming an agile software developer:

• You don't have to be superhuman.

• Agility is really just a mindset.

• Become a generalizing specialist.

You Don't Have to Be Superhuman

This book describes a wide range of skills that agile software developers, in particular agile DBAs, should have. These include an understanding of:

• Agile software development, Agile Modeling (AM), and agile documentation.

• The basics of object orientation, relational databases, data modelling, and the object-relational impedance mismatch.

• Evolutionary database techniques, including Agile Model Driven Development (AMDD), test-driven development (TDD), and database refactoring.

• Development techniques such as mapping objects to relational databases, database encapsulation, concurrency control, security access control, referential integrity, and the effective use of XML.

This is a formidable list. Am I asking too much of you? It clearly isn't realistic to expect you to become adept at all of these things overnight, ...