Refactoring Podcast The State of Software Engineering — with Kent Beck
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Feb 16, 2024 Kent Beck, original signer of the Agile manifesto, creator of Extreme Programming, and all-round programming legend, discusses the state of software engineering today, including topics such as agile vs power structures, the return of waterfall, extreme programming & TDD, feedback loops, code reviews & stacked diffs, and AI for writing and engineering.
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Agile's Co-optation
- The word "Agile" is too attractive, leading to its co-optation by existing power structures.
- This hinders its original intent of empowering programmers and fostering adaptability.
Agile vs. Power Structures
- Traditional power structures favor predictable, top-down approaches like Waterfall.
- Agile, with its emphasis on programmer autonomy and iterative development, can seem threatening to this structure.
Unanswerable Questions
- Kent Beck's boss demanded deadlines for a project whose scope was still undefined.
- Beck refused to create counterproductive incentives for his team, leading to stress and eventually his departure.