CS 410/510 - Software Engineering Class Notes: Scaling Agile Methods

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

What is the primary goal of agile development methods?

To maximize the time spent on software design activities
To create extensive documentation for software projects
To reduce the delivery time for working software systems (correct)
To ensure all development stages are completed in a specific order

How do agile methods differ from plan-driven development approaches?

Agile methods involve separate, sequential development stages
Agile methods rely on negotiation to decide development outputs (correct)
Agile methods do not use any form of iterative development
Agile methods have more extensive documentation requirements

What is a key difference between plan-driven and agile development approaches?

Plan-driven approaches require more extensive documentation than agile approaches
Plan-driven approaches focus more on the design, while agile approaches focus more on the code (correct)
Plan-driven approaches involve more stakeholder involvement than agile approaches
Plan-driven approaches always use the waterfall model, while agile approaches always use iterative development

Which of the following is a common characteristic of agile development methods?

Extensive use of automated testing tools (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key benefit of the agile approach to software development?

Faster delivery of working software systems (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a common criticism of plan-driven software development approaches?

They focus too much on the design rather than the code (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the main challenge in introducing agile methods in a large organization with significant software development experience?

Incompatibility with existing quality procedures and standards (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a key factor that contributes to the success of agile methods?

Highly skilled and experienced team members (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a common challenge faced when scaling up agile methods in a large organization?

Difficulty in maintaining quality standards (C) Signup and view all the answers

Why might project managers be reluctant to accept agile methods in a large organization?

Agile methods introduce too much risk (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a potential cultural challenge when introducing agile methods in a large organization?

Resistance to change from long-time employees (C) Signup and view all the answers

How can a large organization address the challenge of having a wide range of skills and abilities among team members when scaling up agile methods?

Implement a mentorship program to upskill team members (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is a challenge in scaling up agile methods for developing large software systems?

Lack of cross-team communication mechanisms (B) Signup and view all the answers

Why is it argued that agile methods have been successful for small and medium-sized projects?

Because of improved cross-team communication (C) Signup and view all the answers

What makes continuous integration practically impossible in large systems development?

The need to build the whole system every time any developer checks in a change (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key aspect that needs to be focused on when developing large software systems using agile methods?

Frequent system builds and releases (D) Signup and view all the answers

Why does scaling up agile methods require more upfront design and system documentation for large projects?

Because large systems demand more than just coding (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is a challenge faced in maintaining continuous integration for large systems in agile development?

The practical difficulty of building the whole system with each developer's change (C) Signup and view all the answers