Currently I'm working alone on a small project for University and I wondered: Does it make sense to apply methodologies (XP, Scrum) or parts of it? If only for experience? Or does it produce too much "overhead"? And if it does, which one would fit best?
views:
128answers:
7
+8
A:
Methodologies give the approach to tackling a development, to me it would still be applicable if there was one or 100 people on the project. The only difference as you being the sole developer would take on multiple roles within the development.
David
2010-02-03 20:36:42
+1 even when one works in a team, it is often necessary to play more than role
AdamRalph
2010-02-03 20:43:07
+1
A:
As any skill, project management side of development improves with practice, so I'd say it's worth trying out.
DVK
2010-02-03 20:39:05
+4
A:
It's certainly an interesting idea to be able to sprint towards getting a set of goals done in a certain time. It might add some motivation to hitting a deadline, and preventing feature-bloat.
RyanWilcox
2010-02-03 20:47:10
A:
If you are working alone, then pair programming may be a bit of a challenge. :) At the same time, having a story board and moving cards may be useful for others to see if they are connected to your project,e.g. end-users or project managers. My suggestion is to read up on various approaches and if it seems like it may work, do a trial and see how if it makes things better or not.
JB King
2010-02-03 20:50:17
+1
A:
Worth noting that XP and Scrum are development methodologies not project management methodologies.
Development methodologies (such as XP and Scrum) govern areas such as requirements gathering, development techniques, testing and release.
Project management methodologies (such as PRINCE2) cover elements such as scheduling and planning, risk and issue management, project scoping and business case management.
But the accepted answer is right regardless. Unless you're the only person who will ever see the software, input into it, code on it or interact with it in any way at all, methodologies of both sorts will absolutely have something to offer and should be looked at. Even if you are the only person they can still be useful.
Jon Hopkins
2010-02-04 10:43:34
+1
A:
Some of this depends on where you intend to go with your work: you're working alone today, but are you planning (or at least hoping) to build something big enough that you will need help? If so, then it is good to get some practices in place upfront - not so much that it will slow you down, but something that you can build on when you create your team.
A colleague of mine, who has left architecting high-volume trading systems to build software for the iPod and iPad, has done some thinking about this now that he is a team of 1. You might find it helpful:
Jim Bird
2010-02-07 01:36:34
A:
I have worked on projects by myself and you definately need to play multiple roles, I'm a better developer now than before I worked on my own, and definately I can integrate to any development team working with XP and Scrum since I made sure than when I worked by myself I would do the best practices XP and Scrum suggests. The only thing you couldn't apply is Pair Programming, besides that everything is possible playing multiple roles, it will enhance your development for sure.
Roberto Monterroza
2010-02-11 16:58:17