Discovering Agile Development

Sometime in the year 2000, while I was working for Software Implementation Group, a co-worker raised a topic I had never heard before: pair programming. I was skeptical.

He said it was part of a development method called eXtreme Programming, which sounded to me as if it might also include base jumping as one of its standard practices.

Nonetheless, he convinced me to try pair programming with him, and we sat down together at the same computer to turn out some example code in Java. In a single session he introduced me to the concepts of test-driven development and doing the simplest thing that could possibly work. I was intrigued.

Unfortunately I left the company not long after, so my exploration of things Agile was curtailed for a good while (until 2005, in fact).

I’ll close by saying, “thanks, Brien!” You started me out on a whole new path. I hope that one day I can return the favor.