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Self-Assessment

Dec 04, 2002 5:49 PM
Tags: joel, programming, work
It looks like my current project is batting 1.000 according to Jim Highsmith's Agile Software Development Ecosystems (paraphrasing a report from Rob Austin):
  • They are all iterative.
  • They all rely on fast cycles and insist on frequent delivery.
  • They get functionality in some form into business-user hands very early in the project.
  • They are preceded by little or no traditional ROI-style analysis of the project as a monolithic whole.
So, at the least, we have a lot in common with successful projects. Hopefully this bodes well for us, now that we're almost two years in.

Then, on the other hand, there is The Joel Test, which we're less successful. Joel, a former Microsoftie, is from a different school of thought:
  1. Do you use source control?
  2. Can you make a build in one step?
  3. Do you make daily builds?
  4. Do you have a bug database?
  5. Do you fix bugs before writing new code?
  6. Do you have an up-to-date schedule?
  7. Do you have a spec?
  8. Do programmers have quiet working conditions?
  9. Do you use the best tools money can buy?
  10. Do you have testers?
  11. Do new candidates write code during their interview?
  12. Do you do hallway usability testing?
Items 1 and 4 are the only unqualified "yes"es. "Sorta" re: 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11. The others (2, 3, 9, and 12) are flat-out "no"s, and Joel would probably say sorta == no.

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