Garrick West, a seasoned XP practitioner and Agile coach, shares insights from his rich history in software development, starting with coding at age 10. He discusses effective strategies for building great developers through mentorship and an apprenticeship model. The conversation dives into mastering debugging with key techniques and the significance of communication. Additionally, Garrick emphasizes the revival of Extreme Programming, making it crucial for Agile teams today, while advocating for stronger collaborations between industry experts and academia.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Early Coding Experience
Garrick West's mom enrolled him in a computer day camp at age 10, sparking his coding interest.
He later became a TA at the camp, preferring it over his fast-food job.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Curriculum Transformation
Garrick West collaborated with Tina Ostrander to transform Highline College's web developer program.
They shifted from Waterfall to a Scrum-based approach, incorporating weekly iterations, stand-ups, and demos.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Industry Collaboration
Collaborate with industry experts to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world practices.
Leverage their expertise to improve curriculum and provide students with practical insights.
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This book, now in its second edition, provides a comprehensive overview of Extreme Programming (XP), a methodology developed by Kent Beck. It emphasizes the importance of social change, minimalism, and incrementalism in software development. The book includes insights from five years of applying and teaching XP, detailing the motivations and principles behind the practices. It is designed to help teams improve their software development processes, even in the face of rapidly changing requirements, by pushing ordinary development practices to the extreme.
š„ How do you actually build great software developers? How do you debug like a pro? And what happens when XP (Extreme Programming) makes a comeback after the Scrum backlash?
Join us as Garrick Westāa seasoned XP practitioner, Agile coach, and software craftsmanship advocateādives into:
ā Building Agile Software Developers: From XP mentorship to industry-academia collaboration
ā The Best Debugging Strategies: Unpacking The Debugging Book and applying its rules in a mob
ā Reviving XP & Software Crafting: Why XP is more crucial than ever in Agile teams
š Garrick's Story: From Early Coding to XP Champion
Garrick started coding at 10 years old (at day camps in the 80s! š ), earned a Computer Science degree, and had his development worldview shaped by reading the first edition of Extreme Programming Explained. He has worked at XP-centric organizations, trained teams in TDD (Test-Driven Development), Ensemble Programming, and CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment), and even revamped a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum.
šÆ "Building" Agile Software Developers
The power of an XP coach early in a developerās journey
Public speaking as a dev skill? (Toastmasters, teaching at community college)
What happened when Garrick helped convert a college curriculum from Waterfall to XP/Scrum?
Industry experts + academia: How can professional devs and educators collaborate better?
The apprentice model: What it means and why learning stages (like the Dreyfus Model) matter
AI & developer education: Does AI replace early learning stages, or is it just a slick salesman?
Scaling Gilded Rose Kata to different skill levels
Test Coverage as a red herringāwhat should we focus on instead?
š Debugging: The Missing Developer Superpower
Ever heard of The Debugging Book? Most developers havenātābut itās a game-changer. We explore:
Debugging as problem-solving, not just "stepping through" in an IDE
The 9 Debugging Rules: From reading the manual to never throwing away a good test tool
How to gamify debugging in a mob & introduce a "debugging auditor" role
The anti-pattern of multiple experiments at onceāand how to avoid it
Why debugging is like navigating a labyrinth with a million wrong paths
š Reviving XP & Software Crafting After the Scrum Backlash
XP fills Scrumās missing middle: Building the right thing (Scrum) AND building it right (XP)
How Scrum without XP leads to a āBall of Mudā in just 18 months
Why XP + Lean is the ultimate combination
Breaking free from sprints & pressure cookersājust focus on continuous iterations
Can XP stand without Scrum? Or does Scrum need XP?
š” Donāt miss this high-energy, insight-packed conversation with Garrick West!
š¢ Comment below: Whatās YOUR experience with XP, Agile, or debugging challenges?
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