So I was asked today... what is 'agile'?

[textile]I suppose that because I was fortunate enough to have been exposed to an Extreme Programming project in 2000, prompting my interest in it, I forget that not everyone knows what 'agile methods/processes' are... On the pit-wall of a circuit I happened to be racing at today, another driver (co-incidentally a developer) asked me "what is 'agile' anyway?"... The engine noise was drowning out half of what I had to say... and the driver-change was coming up... making it harder for him to hear me through my racing helmet. But enough of the preamble... The Agile Manifesto is the perfect introduction:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools

Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation

Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

Martin Fowler's article The New Methodology provides a useful history and explanation. Resources on agile approaches are many, however, the Agile Processes Pages on the Cunninghams' Wiki is a good place to start. If you want to read about the latest thoughts from agile practitioners, check out postings about 'agile' on testingReflections.com and Ian Davis' Agile Planet (as highlighted by Brian Marick, testing specialist and current chair of the AgileAlliance). And as for the testing specialists' function in an agile environment...

Working software is the primary measure of progress. -agile principles

...in my own words - the testing specialist facilitates this by designing and automating tests, while making their expertise available to all individuals involved in ensuring that (or measuring if), the software is 'working'.