XP Practices

1. Release Planning

• A release is a combination of sprints or iterations pushed to production users.
• The customer should outline the functionalities.
• Developers estimate the difficulty of building those functionalities.

2. Iteration Planning

• Iterations are short development cycles within a release (1-2 weeks).
• Customers explain the required functionality.
• Developers break it into tasks and estimate work effort.

3. Small Releases

• Frequent, small releases for better visibility.
• Allows continuous testing and integration.

4. Customer Tests

• Customers define tests to verify software functionality.
• Teams build automated tests accordingly.

5. Collective Code Ownership

• Any developer can modify any code.
• Encourages knowledge sharing and reduces risk.

6. Coding Standards

• Consistent coding style makes the software look uniform.

7. Sustainable Pace

• Long hours of overtime are counterproductive.
• Maintaining a sustainable pace ensures long-term efficiency.

8. Metaphor

• Uses metaphors and similes to explain designs.
• Bridges the gap between programmers and users.

9. Continuous Integration

• Ensures new code integrates without breaking existing functionality.
• Problems surface early before more code is built on faulty designs.

10. Test-Driven Development (TDD)

• Write tests before writing code.
• Code must pass the test to be considered correct.

11. Pair Programming

• Two developers work together on the same code.
• Leads to fewer defects and increased knowledge sharing.

12. Simple Design & Refactoring

• Keep designs simple and easy to understand.
• Refactoring removes redundancy and improves code quality.