all things computed

Agile Software Development methodologies have been around for over a decade, and several are becoming prevalent in enterprise development practices where traditional, heavyweight SDLC-based methodologies once held exclusive mindshare. Scrum is one of the most approachable Agile methodologies for shops looking to make the transition. One can read up on Scrum in a few sittings and have enough information to get started, and most Certified Scrum Master (CSM) courses only take two days to complete.

Invariably, new practicioners of Scrum find themselves asking, "So now we're Agile using Scrum; now what?" The principles of Scrum are easy enough to absorb, but putting them into practice can be a challenge, particularly when a shop has years of doing things "the old way" under their belt.

In the course of my average week, I have referred so many people to the books I use for Agile Software Development and Scrum that I decided to create a bibliography for easy reference.

• Agile Software Development with SCRUM - Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle
• User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development - Mike Cohn
• Agile Estimating and Planning - Mike Cohn

This is a brief talk that I give from time to time to introduce the topic of user stories as a solution to the communication problem of software development. A PDF of the slide deck can be found on this page. My primary reference for user stories is User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development by Mike Cohn of Mountain Goat Software.