Agile and Scrum Simplified

Thu, 18 Jul 2019

Here is how I taught myself Agile and Scrum concepts. Concepts became much clearer when I learned how the various roles, artifacts and events interact.

Understanding Agile and Scrum Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJRsSbWR3Mc

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is a concept that details the various stages in a software release.

SDLC Stages

  • Planning
  • Designing
  • Developing
  • Testing
  • Deploying

Agile is a software methodology that is iterative. It adapts to changes much faster. It helps deliver high quality software faster, that meets customer requirements.

Scrum is one of the most common Agile development frameworks. In Scrum, the project is split into multiple periods. Each period can last from 2-4 weeks. So if a company adopts a 2 week period, that duration is called a Sprint.

  • Scrum Roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Scrum Team, Stakeholders)
  • Scrum Artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog)
  • Scrum Events (Sprint Planning, Sprint, Daily Standup, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective)

Scrum Roles

Product Owner

  • Gathers business requirements
  • Helps the team undestand the vision and the business value of features
  • Prioritize the features (backlog)
  • Accept finished software

Scrum Master

  • Plans sprints
  • Help eliminate blockages and obstacles that prevent the team from achieving their goals
  • Tracks the sprint’s progress

Scrum Team Members

The scrum team can include Architects, Software developers, QA testers etc.

  • Develop code required to meet sprint goals
  • Implement test plans and tests
  • Identify obstacles and informing team and Scrum Team Master

Stakeholders

Stakeholders are the people that derive value from the software. -Can have indirect involvement through discussions with Product Owners. -Can include executives, customers, users, partners

Scrum Artifacts

Product Backlog

This is a prioritized list of new features that should be implemented as part of a project. This is a big list of features..sort of a wish-list of features

Sprint Backlog

This is a list of items (user stories) that the sprint team is committed to doing as part of the current sprint. THis list can also include defects, refactoring work etc.

Scrum Events

Sprint Planning

This meeting is held at the beginning of the sprint. This is attended by the Product Owner, Scrum Master, Scrum Team (including Architects, Developers, Testers etc). The Product Owner first presents the current top priority items in the Product Backlog. At the end of the meeting, the team commits to a Sprint Backlog of items that they are confident that they can complete by the end of the sprint.

Sprint

The sprint is the fixed time period (2-4 weeks) where the Scrum team delivers items.

Daily Standup

A daily short meeting where the sprint team members share 3 things - What they did yesterday, What they plan to do today, Are there blocked or have any obstacles.

Sprint Review (Demo time)

This meeting occurs at the end of a sprint. The team presents the results of the sprint to the Product Owners and Stakeholders. This is usually done by demoing the feature.

Sprint Retrospective

At this meeting held once per sprint, the team discusses - What went right, What did not go well, What can be improved

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