Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
Software development celebrates the "lazy" programmer - the one who refactors and reuses code. Test Driven Development guides developers to do "the simplest thing possible".Similarly climbing recognizes that ascents made with the minium of outside aid and equipment as being more worthy than those completed with outside help (porters and ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
Climbers will say that "style matters", the means by which an end is acheived is as important as the end itself. Getting to the summit by any tactic is seen as less worthy than an ascent made with the minimal equipment.Similarly developers consider hacked together solutions to problems to be ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Tuesday, April 4th, 2006
"A software project has much in common with rock climbing. The primary goal is to deploy the system. It is with respect to this goal that the team is first evaluated. After that, one may ask whether it was a fun project, or well-run, or the program is aesthetic or ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Thursday, March 30th, 2006
When I train I think of it as pain now vs. pain later. I can run up hills in the pouring rain in January to get fit for alpine climbing in May or I can skip it and just suffer more more when the time comes. Me, I try and ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
"Talk - Action = Zero" basically means that climbing should be a zero sum game. It you talk the talk you have to back it up with actions to prove it.In software terms this is like saying you can do all the design and planning you want but unless you ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
Cooperative Games of InventionBoth climbing and software are cooperative, finite and goal directed.Cooperative - "a team sport", if team members don't pull or carry their weight then the whole team suffers.Finite - Clear definition of "done"; the summit or RTM.Goals - All participants can and should have a clear idea ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006
Software AscentsBoth agile software development and alpine climbing are adaptive methods.Assemble teamEvaluate objectiveDo workAssess progress - are we "done"Adjust tacticsDo more work (goto 3).There have been many other comparisons...I find rock climbing has more in common with software development than do all the comparison partners that have been used before. ...
Tags: Agile, Metaphors
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Welcome to my blog on software development and probably a whole lot more. If you're looking for alpine climbing you'll find it on my 
