Agile, borrowed from the Latin agilis, “to drive, be in motion, do, perform.” According to the Meriam Webster dictionary, being agile means being marked by a ready ability to move with quick, or having a quick and resourceful, and adaptable character.
The agile methodology was born in 2001 product of the Agile Alliance, a group of 17 computer programmers as they called themselves, and provided a new way to think about the software development process. The Agile Alliance merged concepts from Kanban, Scrum, and others and offered the world their manifesto. A manifesto that cherishes process and tools but does not over having the right people working the right way effectively. It embraces having documentation that describes how the software works while understanding that its main focus is to create software. It prioritizes contracts but does not trump giving customers what they need instead of what they requested. And lastly, it communicates that project plans are necessary but not more than adjusting to change, correctly understanding the problem, and executing a solution.
Agile divides its deliveries into small clusters with upfront documentation of specifications and requirements, providing frequent deliveries to ensure visibility for its participants while creating opportunities for feedback and time to adjust to changes within the software lifecycle. An Agile Developer uses pair-programming, test-driven development, stand-ups, planning sessions, and sprints as a framework to approach software development.
As an Agile developer, your activities may include working closely with testers, analysts, and customers. One of the differences with other frameworks is that Agile developers won’t work on any piece of code for several weeks. Other teams will review and edit it so it will become a team instead of an individual effort.
The Agile developer‘s responsibilities will include quality testing, estimating, planning and managing tasks, collaboration with team members, and having a close relationship with the client to deliver on their requirements.
If your company is unwilling to invest in proper training, your team is reverting to their old ways instead of taking the agile bull by the horns, and on top of it, your application cannot be broken into two-week clusters. You may want to reconsider going the Agile way.
Being part of the Agile world forces you to join open source communities to improve your professional skills, so join one, publish questions, and offer answers. There are many ways to help make the community bigger and find the best company to give you room to improve your knowledge. Continue learning about tools and techniques that raise your quality standards and improve product development, such as continuous integration, design patterns, domain-driven design, code refactoring, automated unit testing, and effective branching strategies.
To sum up
An agile developer reacts every single time an action is required. He asks questions when things go awry, makes suggestions, owns his deliverables, and understands the definition of done. He believes in teamwork as the primary tool for software success. He is willing to teach and mentor cause it’s the best way to ensure every team member deals with all problems, and he has a passion for learning and applying new ways to test the software’s effectiveness.
