Early proponents of Agile assumed a certain style of programming that was an outgrowth of the Simple Design practice of eXtreme Programming. As Agile has been adopted, this particular style was not brought in as a co-requisite. This presentation explains aspects of this style, cites examples of the impact of its use, and describes a training program developed by Fred George to address this deficiency. This training program formed the basis of ThoughtWorks University several years after its creation. (Presentation given at Agile India 2013)

1. The Secret
Assumption
of Agile
Fred George
fredgeorge@acm.org
@fgeorge52
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 1

2. Agile is Productive
Traditional Agile
3 Months
12 Months 8 Months.............
5 Months
8 Months
$28 / Hour $87 / Hour
$2,000,000
6x $1,100,000
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 2

3. How?
1. Code That Can Change
2. Lean Management
3. Processing Power
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 3

4. “Objects are only good for
programs that change.”
Rick DeNatale, IBM
1988
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 4

5. Stories Assume Easy
Change
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 5

6. Typical Program
public void foo( ) {
... How many lines?
...
...
...
... 2.3 lines / method
... 25 lines / class
...
... Smalltalk:
} 1.1 lines / method
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 6

7. Replacement Application
Old New
Java Java
Oracle DB Oracle DB
Web UI Web UI
72 Classes 1400 Classes
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 7

8. Tasking Cycle
Task
Integrate Design
Ship Code Test
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 8

9. Task Cycle Case Study
Task
Integrate Design
1,000,000 Lines of J2EE Code
2-4 Hours 50 Programmers
4000 Tests
Cycle Time?
Code Test
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 9

10. Tasking Cycle
Task 15 Minutes
Integrate Design
15 Minutes
Code Test
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 10

11. Simple Design
1. Works
2. Communicates
3. No duplicate code
4. Least classes and methods
Applies to Application and Tests
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 12

12. Refactoring
Martin Fowler
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 13

13. Tasking Cycle
Task
Integrate Design
Simple
Design
Refactoring
Code Test
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 14

14. Refactoring
to Patterns
Joshua Kerievsky
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 15

15. Tasking Cycle
Task
Integrate Design
Introduce
Patterns
Refactoring Refactoring
Code Test
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 16

16. Case Study: Complexity
Cyclomatic Complexity
100 is Bad
“...never seen less than 5” - Senior Architect
Cyclomatic Complexity: 1.8
9 week test: 1 bug, fixed within 2 hours
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 17

17. Path to Proficiency
en ce
xp eri
E
ng
i ni
Tra
ng
ki
or
W
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 18

18. Product Requests (London)
Payback: 28 Stories
11 Days 12 Days
Class
23 Stories 5 Days
15 Days
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 19

19. OO Boot Camp
“...teaches you to think like a programmer...”
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 20

20. “15 minutes after the class
started, I realized I knew
nothing about
programming.”
Lead Designer, Consulting Firm, commenting to
CIO of a large US manufacturer.
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 21

21. OO Boot Camp
History: Since 1995
Over 1000 Students; 3 countries
Java, VB, C#, Ruby
Socratic Method (Question - Answer - Question)
60%+ Lab
Pair Programming
Test First (15 Minute Cycle)
Students Present Solutions
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 22

22. Master
Journeyman
Apprentice
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 23

23. Master
2Y
ear
s-
Ne
ver
Journeyman
on ths
2- 6M
Apprentice
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 24

24. Part 1: Principles
Encapsulation Collaborating Objects
Object Relationships Interfaces
Inheritance Coding Patterns
Delegation Refactoring
Polymorphism Recursion
40-50 Hours
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 25

25. Part 2: Design Patterns
Rationale Composite Pattern
Patterns vs. Principles Visitor Pattern
Observer Pattern Builder Pattern
Iterator Pattern Concerts
Mediator Pattern Survey of Patterns
40-50 Hours
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 26

26. Suspicious Statements
case - Almost always wrong
else - Mostly wrong
if - Suspicious
Unless guard clause at start of method
Substitute Design Patterns for all these
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 27

27. Suspicious Methods
getters - Violates Encapsulation
setters - Worse: violates Encapsulation and Object
integrity
Methods with 2 or more levels of indenting
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 28

28. Suspicious Classes
Classes with names ending in -er or -or
Special naming conventions for Interfaces
Interface with a single implementing Class
Classes with more than 2 instance variables
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 29

29. Results
Dropouts 20%
Journeymen 20%
Architecture, Design, Multiple
Predictors Languages
Retention Must be used within a month
Support Journeymen, Masters
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 30

30. Maintenance
Old New
Java Java
Oracle DB Oracle DB
Web UI Web UI
72 Classes 1400 Classes
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 31

31. Transition Plan
No Documentation
No Training
No Time
No Problem!
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 32

32. Training -- OO Boot Camp
First class 1 October
9-12 students / class
Include project managers and QA
4 classes so far
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 33

33. Implementation
Start development on 15 October
Ruby used (never used before 1 October)
No stories - just business problem
First page ready for review by end of November
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 34

34. Currently...
5 Tables running
Each Table has it’s own business problem
Only developers
Speaker designated
Processes are varying, particularly metrics
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 35

35. Questions?
Copyright © 2009-2013 by Fred George 36