PSP vs Agile which one is better for medium team (5 - 10 developer)

Question

Now I need to study about PSP (Personal Software Process) and Agile, then compare it pros and cons.

I have some knowledge of Agile but very little with PSP. I want to know from anyone who have experience with these 2 methodology and which one is suite for my team size.

Answer 1

PSP is not a team process but a tool for individual developers to better understand and improve their software development performance. Although it can be used by each individual in a team, it does not work as the sole process model for a team.

Agile on the other hand is an umbrella term for many different methodologies sharing some characteristics such as short feedback cycles.

So if you're choosing between agile and PSP for a team of 5..10 people, forget PSP as a team process and start with some agile method such as Scrum and adapt it to your needs over time.

For further reading:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Software_Process
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development

Answer 2

PSP is personal software process. Very nice for getting a basic understanding about how to interact in a team, but it is no team methodology. Read laalto's post again it is very good:)

Answer 3

You probably meant TSP, which stands for Team Software Process.

TSP is also designed for smaller teams (2-20) but is a relatively heavyweight process when compared to Agile methods. TSP is highly structured, and involves heavy documentation--every step of the lifecycle is described using scripts and requires keeping detailed metrics using forms. You also need engineers trained in TSP (as well as PSP, which is a prerequisite for TSP)

In comparison, Agile techniques (generally) involve far less documentation and are much more flexible.

Which one is right for you? Like the answer to all good software engineering questions, it depends. If you have the luxury of time, and if you meet the prerequisites, TSP will make it easy for you. On the other hand if you desire rapid results, XP or Scrum might be more suited for your project.

Answer 4

TSP (which uses a team of people using PSP) promises to give you results on par or better than a corporation on CMMI level 5 when it comes to quality and delivery time, but it requires the team to first learn how to properly use PSP and then TSP. Agile's meant to be pretty flexible and accesible.