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Extreme Programming Balloon Debate

something else 75 minutes

Which aspect of Extreme Programming is most important to you?Here is your chance to heckle and vote.

Steve Freeman (for the London Extreme Group)

Extreme Programming is a new approach to software development, devised by Kent Beck (Keynote OT'99). Its strength derives from its use of a range of techniques, such as User Stories and Pair Programming, to maintain a balance between the forces that drive a software project.

The idea of a Balloon Debate is that the speakers are all riding in a leaking hot-air balloon that must lose weight or crash. At each stage, the audience must decide which speaker represents the least benefit to the World and so can be thrown out to save the others. Each speaker will represent one of the techniques of Extreme Programming and plead its importance so as to avoid being jettisoned from the balloon.

Although only one speaker will be allowed to remain in the balloon, the debate will bring out the importance of all the techniques to the success of Extreme Programming and show how they interact and support each other.

n.b. so far, Oli Bye, Steve Freeman, Tim Mackinnon, Peter Marks, and John Nolan have agreed to take part. We intend to have a chair person and 5-6 speakers.

Steve Freeman (for the London Extreme Group) (steve@m3p.co.uk)

M3P Limited

The London Extreme Group is a monthly meeting of software professionals based in London who are enthusiasts for Extreme Programming. We use the meetings to share our practical experiences and to deepen our understanding of how to make Extreme Programming work.

Topics

Benefits

The session is designed to explore the techniques, such as User Stories and Pair Programming, that make up Extreme Programming. Participants will be asked to consider each technique in turn for throwing out of the balloon. This will lead to a better understanding of the balance between these techniques and how they interact and support each other.

Session: something else 75 minutes Level: intermediate
Audience: This session is intended for people with practical experience of software development. Participants should at least have read about Extreme Programming.

Max 50

Material

A description of Extreme Programming with references to the relevant web sites.

Delivery

We do not expect any formal deliverables. The intention is to stimulate debate about and understanding of how the techniques of Extreme Programming interact and support each other.

Format

The session will be led with some degree of formality (perhaps using a gavel) by the chairperson to retain the atmosphere of a game with rules, and to keep things moving. We encourage flag-waving, heckling, and other forms of participation.

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