Better Software - June 2008 - (Page 28)

while preserving the code added to the previously generated classes, allowing this kind of iterative development. MoDeling gAin without the bureAucrAtic pAin There are several advantages to taking an AMDD approach to agile software development: • AMDD helps scale agile. We often find ourselves in situations where the team is distributed geographically and organizationally, the team is large, the application is complex, you must comply with industry regulations, your organization has an IT governance program in place, your system integrates with others, or you’re working with not-so-agile people in other groups. As we scale agile approaches to more complex situations, the need for realistic approaches to modeling and documentation becomes more apparent. • Documentation support for distributed development. Capturing requirements on index cards and architectures on whiteboards works really well when you’ve got a small, co-located team. When your team is distributed, either in space or in time, then there is greater need for written documentation. • Models help persist information over the long term. Someone will have to maintain, operate, and support the system that you’re building today. The implication is that you’re going to need to write some documentation to aid these people in doing so. • AMDD scales TDD. TDD is great for specifying details in a JIT manner; AMDD provides the techniques to think things through at a high level, thereby scaling the specification part of TDD. • Good modeling tools, in skilled hands, increase productivity. Good modeling tools will automate a lot of the grunt work of software development, thereby raising the abstraction level and your overall productivity levels. Nothing is perfect and, as you’d ex28 BETTER SOFTWARE JUNE 2008 Figure 10: Updated physical data model Figure 11: Database update script pect, there are several disadvantages to AMDD: • You need to adopt modeling tools. We’ve both worked in organizations where it was difficult to get a whiteboard installed in a meeting room or a team work area, let alone get the funding for www.StickyMinds.com a tool. • Developers need modeling skills. Although whiteboard sketching and paper-based modeling is a great start, there are significant benefits to using software-based modeling tools. Simply purchasing and installing such tools http://www.StickyMinds.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Better Software - June 2008

Better Software - June 2008 Contents Mark Your Calendar Contributors Technically Speaking eLightenment Code Craft Test Connection Management Chronicles Agile Model-Driven Development The Myth of Risk Management Stop the Insanity! Product Announcements 10 Things You Might Not Know About … The Last Word Ad Index

Better Software - June 2008

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