Agile Software Engineering and Scrum Overview

A list of tasks (bugs, features, improvements) not yet completed by the Scrum team.

A small, self-organizing team (5-8 people) responsible for building the product.

A short period (2-4 weeks) for developing a product increment.

The output of a sprint, good enough for release to customers, not necessarily complete.

A potentially shippable product increment with enough features to be valuable to customers - more mature than initial product form .

An estimate of how much work a team can complete in a sprint.

The subset of Product Backlog items selected for a specific sprint.

A daily team meeting to review progress and plan the work for the day.

The person responsible for prioritizing items in a product backlog and describing them to the team.

A Scrum team coach who helps the team use Scrum effectively (acting as a project manager sometimes).

Analyzing and detailing product backlog items to increase clarity and understanding.

Assessing the amount of work required to implement a product backlog item.

Reordering product backlog items based on changed circumstances or priorities.

A desired functionality or capability for a software product from a user's perspective.

Actual work performed on a software project towards building the product.

Assigning an effort estimate to Product Backlog Items (PBIs).

A way to quantify the effort involved in implementing a PBI.

Arbitrary units for estimating PBI effort.

A team-based estimation approach for PBIs.

Difficulty in accurately estimating effort, especially at the start of a project.

Estimates that aren't objectively accurate because of a lack of experience.

Accuracies will grow as experience increases in a project.

The goal to reach an agreement on the estimated points for a PBI or activity.

Interactions between team members and people outside the development team, such as stakeholders, clients, or management.

External interactions focused on acquiring resources, expertise, or support for the development team.

External interactions focused on gathering requirements, discussing timelines, or providing updates on the product's progress.

The ScrumMaster acts as a bridge between the development team and external parties, handling communication and ensuring clear information flow.

Development teams report on their progress to company management, often through the ScrumMaster who provides accurate information on the project's status.

The average amount of work (usually measured in story points) a team can complete in a sprint based on previous sprints.

A specific, measurable target that the team aims to achieve during a sprint.

The team collectively agrees on a sprint goal, chooses the highest priority product backlog items (PBIs) to work on during the sprint, and refines those PBIs.

The team works on implementing the sprint backlog items.

The team reviews the work done during the sprint, discusses what went well, and what could be improved for future sprints.

Uncompleted sprint backlog items are returned to the product backlog and prioritized for future sprints.

Velocity is used to decide how many PBIs to include in a sprint, for better planning, and as a measure of productivity.

The subset of product backlog items selected to be completed during a specific sprint.

A short daily meeting where team members discuss progress, identify problems, and plan the day's work. It's designed for coordination and problem-solving.

During a Scrum, the team revisits the Sprint Backlog, removing completed items and potentially adding new ones based on emerging information.

A meeting held at the end of a sprint where the team reflects on their process, identifies areas for improvement, and celebrates successes.

A list of criteria used to assess whether the code developed during a sprint meets the agreed standards and is ready for review.

The practice of using automated tools to execute tests regularly, ensuring consistent quality and detecting regressions.

A practice where developers frequently integrate their code changes into a shared repository, enabling early detection of integration problems.

A meeting at the end of a sprint where the team reviews the sprint's progress, discusses problems, and reflects on how to work better. The Product Owner determines if the sprint met its goal.