Introduction to Agile

Agile is a software development philosophy and approach that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and continuous improvement. It originated as a response to the limitations and drawbacks of traditional, plan-driven project management methodologies. 

Traditional design and development steps are separated into distinct phases. Work products are produced at each phase and handed off to the next 

Risks: 

• Errors in each phase are passed to the next 

• Time overruns usually come out of final phases – development and test 

• Poor quality is compounded by upstream problems in requirements and design 

• Accumulates technical debt 

The Agile philosophy and principles are described in the Agile Manifesto, which was developed by a group of software developers in 2001. 

These principles have become so widely utilized, that they’ve surpassed strict use in the technology industry and are now used across disciplines and industries.