Tag: research

Confirmation bias in software engineering

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The Primary auditory cortex is highlighted in magenta, and has been known to interact with all areas highlighted on this neural map.

Of all the limits on our cognition, confirmation bias is perhaps the ugliest. Confirmation bias is hard to get to grip with as it leads us to consider even contradictory evidence as confirmatory. Does confirmation bias affect even software professionals? Of course it does, we are all in the grip…

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Change is the only constant in agile

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Neon sign: change. Change is the only constant.

[bibshow] How much change can a project withstand before it is too much? A requirements change rate of above 20% is probably too much [bibcite key=”citeulike:13415962″]. Typical rules of thumb figures for software development requirements change rate is cited as 1-3% [bibcite key=”citeulike:321639″]. But the rate of change is accelerating.…

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Software Effort Estimation Problems

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Estimation is important for software developers. Software effort estimation problems are part of their daily lives.

Software effort estimation is an important part of the daily lives of many software professionals. I have joined the #noestimates debate on Twitter because there is a lot to learn from a discussion on estimates. I’m not ready to fully abandon estimates but I am interested in discussing where, when…

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Agile Community of Practice

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A data repository is not a community of practice

I’m a strong believer in learning by doing. I also believe that learning will be better when supported by an agile community of practice (CoP). Communities of practice allow self-selected members to develop their “capabilities, build and exchange knowledge”. In my professional life, I am involved in several communities including…

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What is the proper size and time for an Agile Retrospective?

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I often hear the same complaint about Agile Retrospectives: They are not held at the right level in the organization! Or, at least, that is the conclusion that people draw from one fact: Many issues brought up in the Retrospective need resolution at a much higher level in the organization.…

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Evidence Based Software Engineering

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Is it possible to do controlled process experiments in software? That was the question asked in the Kanbandev group over at Yahoo groups. We need evidence to support the practices we use in software development. After all we are talking about a serious business with an annual value of about 500 TUSD.

TDD Improves Quality

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Test Driven Development: Ten Years Later - Steve Freeman, Michael Feathers

TDD improves quality! That might sound obvious, but evidently it isn’t. Test driven development (TDD) is often cited as a key agile practice (1,2). But still, the evidence has been equivocal until now.

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Regression Test Selection Twenty Years

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Last year Regression Test Selection celebrated its twentieth year as a field of research. It was in 1993 that G Rothermel and MJ Harrold published their seminal paper on regression test selection. With Continuous Integration being the top agile practice, RTS remains important. How did scholars celebrate “regression test selection…

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Key Agile Practices You Need

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Laurie Williams presenting a slide. She is the researcher behind the list of Key Agile Practices.

Laurie Williams has presented a “top thirty” list of key agile practices. The list defines what you need to do to be seen as being agile. Continuous integration, short iterations and done criteria are at the top of the list.

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Agile is NOT new and not enough

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So people keep talking about the Agile – Waterfall dichotomy. About agile and un-agile practices. I decided to have an unscientific look at what Agile isn’t. If there is a true dichotomy between Agile and Waterfall, then things opposite of Agile should be either entirely out of scope for projects…

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