Blatant XP Propaganda

I was expecting to read about psychology and sociology as they apply to software development teams. Instead it's a propaganda piece which purports to show how eXtreme Programming is the best way to write software because there's more human interaction involved. So far I've learned that developers are happy to write documentation after the code is nearly complete, and that the development process works better when nobody owns any code. Other methodologies (RUP, Spiral) are only good to the extent that they're like XP.

Note that I think XP has some good points, but every methodology needs to be looked at with a critical eye. This book seems to have been written by college professors who've never actually developed software for a living. It's a weak, weak book.

ADDENDUM 19-SEPT-2007
It's odd to see that a paid reviewer took the time to attack me for disliking the book three years ago. Now I feel obligated to defend myself for posterity, despite the fact that no one will ever read this.

For the record I remember being excited when this book was announced. I actually pre-ordered it. I was expecting a book that described people, personality traits, and how those personalities and traits interacted and responded to the various challenges of software development projects. I was looking for insight into what makes people tick and how I could use that knowledge to make my projects run more smoothly. I was expecting a book with a lot of information about psychology and sociology. You know; the "Human Aspects of Software Engineering" that the title promised.

Instead I got a book about why XP makes developers happier than traditional methodologies. The killer was the illustrative stories at the beginning, which contrast (I forgot the names long ago) Mt. Waterfall and his dull grey cubicle in his dull grey office full of dull grey people under a dull grey sky, vs Ms. Extreme in her happy colorful office with happy colorful workers and free candy. The argument was that Ms. Extreme was happier because her environment was better, but "nice offices, flex-time, and co-workers who are also friends make people happy" wasn't the deep insight I was hoping for.

And I stand by my opinion that the writers of the book did not appear to have ever actually done what they were writing about. "40 years of experience" isn't terribly significant when writing about a methodology that was only (publicly) five years old when the book was written. It certainly had the tone of somebody who has found a magical silver bullet but hasn't yet tried to kill any werewolves with it.

Other Reviews

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• Blatant XP Propaganda