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Through discussions on public
mailing lists and newsgroups as well as working closely
with my company’s clients, I have already met several
people who held some disturbing misconceptions regarding
AM. To be fair, my description of AM at the time often
wasn’t complete and this book obviously wasn’t
available yet. However, I’m still concerned enough to
address these misconceptions here because I suspect they
will continue to crop up. The misconceptions that I have
observed include:
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Misconception #1: Business analysts,
architects, and other specialized modelers are
disallowed. The reality is that AM does in
fact prefer that developers are
generalizing specialists but does not require it.
Specialists such as
business analysts can be quite
effective when you need someone to work with project
stakeholders at a site distant from the development
team and architecture experts can be useful at the
beginning of a project to help you identify a
candidate architecture.
Misconception #2: You can’t/don’t review
agile models. There is no reason why you cannot
review an agile model or document for that matter,
although if you're following the AM practices
appropriately you may find that the reviews don't
offer much value.
The reviewers need to set their expectations
accordingly, remembering that
Content Is More
Important That Representation, and you want to
organize the review meeting so that it is effective.
For further discussion regarding review of agile
models, read
Validating Agile Models and
Model Reviews: Best Practice or Process Smell? Misconception
#3: AM is carved in stone.
The reality is that this is partially true because
at a minimum you need to adopt AM’s core practices
to claim an AM approach to development. However,
there is significant leeway in the way that you
follow these practices. For example AM suggests that
you
Apply The Right Artifact(s) but doesn’t
tell you what the right artifacts are. Some suggestions
are
provided
in the
article Agile
Modeling Artifacts.
Misconception #4: You don’t use CASE tools. Agile
modelers follow the practice
Use The Simplest
Tools, and sometimes the simplest tool for the
job is in fact a CASE tool. See the article Simple Tools or CASE Tools? and
Comparing the Various Approaches to
Modeling in Software Development.Misconception
#5: Agile modelers are highly
skilled “super developers. Having a
wide range of modeling experience certainly helps,
but it isn’t a requirement.
It can be your first day on the job as a
developer and you can still follow the principles
and practices of AM. It’s far more important to be
willing to work with others and to learn new
skills--anyone willing to do so can become an agile
modeler.
Agile modelers are, however, usually
generalizing specialists.
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The Object Primer 3rd Edition: Agile Model Driven
Development with UML 2 is an
important reference book for agile modelers,
describing how to develop 35
types of agile
models including all 13
UML 2 diagrams.
Furthermore, this book describes the techniques
of the
Full Lifecycle Object Oriented Testing
(FLOOT) methodology to give you the fundamental
testing skills which you require to succeed at
agile software development. The book also
shows how to move from your agile models to
source code (Java examples are provided) as well
as how to succeed at implementation techniques
such as
refactoring and
test-driven development
(TDD). The Object Primer also includes a
chapter overviewing the critical database
development techniques (database refactoring,
object/relational mapping,
legacy analysis, and
database access coding) from my award-winning
Agile Database Techniques
book. |
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Agile Modeling: Effective Practices for Extreme
Programming and the Unified Process is the seminal
book describing how agile software developers approach
modeling and
documentation. It describes principles and
practices which you can tailor into your existing
software process, such as
XP, the
Rational Unified Process (RUP), or the
Agile Unified Process (AUP), to streamline your
modeling and documentation efforts. Modeling and
documentation are important aspects of any software
project, including agile projects, and this book
describes in detail how to
elicit requirements,
architect, and then
design your system in an agile manner. |
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The Elements of UML 2.0 Style describes a collection
of standards, conventions, and
guidelines
for creating effective
UML diagrams. They are based on sound, proven
software engineering principles that lead to diagrams
that are easier to understand and work with. These
conventions exist as a collection of simple, concise
guidelines that if applied consistently, represent an
important first step in increasing your productivity as
a modeler. This book is oriented towards
intermediate to advanced UML modelers, although there
are numerous examples throughout the book it would not
be a good way to learn the UML (instead, consider
The Object Primer). The book is a brief 188
pages long and is conveniently pocket-sized so it's easy
to carry around. |
I actively work with clients around the world to
improve their information technology (IT) practices as
both a mentor/coach and trainer. A full description of
what I do, and how to contact me, can be
found here.
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