Why Xp Is Popular

Candidate Reasons

1. XP is fun because we deliver AND get to go home on time

2. TheExtremists? are kind of fun to be around

3. It keeps me away from the UmlCaseVultures who would otherwise spoil my day

4. XP challenges the heart of the SEI/CMM world. The CapabilityMaturityModel needs a serious challenge now and then.

5. XP puts its faith into two oft neglected groups: users and programmers.

6. People who have actually experienced XP find it to be the most enjoyable and productive form of software development they have ever used. -- RonJeffries

7. Many of XP's principles match well how many good programmers write and think about programs. The rest offer the promise of improved performance in a way consistent with what they already do and think. -- EugeneWallingford

8. Quick feedback is more enjoyable [and more effective?] than deferred gratification and/or uncertainty. -- DaveHarris

9. UnitTests look more like [are?] concrete achievement than does a design spec which you can't execute. -- DaveHarris

10. The emphasis on communication (eg PairProgramming) means we get less lonely. Other people are fun! -- DaveHarris

11. It removes background noise so you can keep one ear on the pulse of what your code is saying. -- RodneyRyan?

12. Conversation with a compiler: "It doesn't compile... It doesn't compile... It compiles now. Decide for yourself how well it runs..." -- MattRickard

13. XP feels somewhat like Alcoholics Anonymous. You know you've had a problem with software development for years (such as never shipping on time, or a succession of less than satisfactory jobs) but it's truly hard to come out and admit you do, indeed, have a problem. XP tells you not only that it's OK, it wasn't entirely your fault, but that you can probably find a way out.

14. PairProgramming is a great way to learn how to program. Learning how to program in an environment where we have rapidly tangible results is not only more fun, but allows us to learn faster. -- EricHerman

15. Everyone gets to speak up in the planning: no architecture decisions being forced upon us. Also XpPlansMore.

16. The EconomicArgumentsOfExtremeProgramming? are compelling. If changes MUST occur then you need some methodology that anticipates change and makes change as cheap as possible. Extreme Programming amortizes virtually nothing over the life of a project. You pay almost no penalty for early mistakes. -- JoeBergin

17. ExtremeRoles do not depend on stereotypes or arbitrary ability sets, like the evil methodologies such as ChiefProgrammerTeam do. -- PCP

18. Customers like XP -- because it gives them the things they want, such as control over costs and scope, ways to track progress, a system running at all times, and high flexibility thanks to high quality -- ArieVanDeursen

19. The alternatives are dishonest - Who can predict the future? Who actually makes accurate estimates six months out? Who knows what the business will need six months from know? Who can actually articulate all of the requirements for a hunk of software before a line of code is written? -- KurtChristensen

20. Sells a hell of a lot of XP books, so hyping it makes book vendors and authors wealthier. -- anonymousCoward

This page mirrored in ExtremeProgrammingRoadmap as of April 29, 2006