Questioning Extreme Programming

Chapter 10. Is That All There Is to Extreme Programming?

Simple does not always imply easy.

Although it is simple to describe the practices, Extreme Programming is much more than the sum of all of the practices. The practices work synergistically in an environment that is set up to support the core values of Extreme Programming [Beck, 2000, p. 29–35]:

• Communication

• Simplicity

• Feedback

• Courage

• Respect

Of all of these values, respect is key. As Kent Beck states, “If members of a team don't care about each other and what they are doing, XP is doomed. So probably are most other approaches to writing software (or getting anything done), but XP is extremely sensitive to this.” [Beck, 2000, p. 35]

Respect is the foundation of XP because, without respect, none ...