Agile Learning Resources

This is a list of some resources that are useful for getting started or growing your understanding of Agile.

Please also check out Kanban and Lean Resources to make your Agile implementation that much better.

Getting Started

Short articles for printing out and reading while you are on the train/subway.

Agile Manifesto – Web page
Agile Manifesto Principles – Web page
Article on the history of Iterative developement
Short Scrum Guide – 13 page article/guide
Agile/Scrum Life cycle diagram – print and post on a wall.
Scrum on a page – print and keep handy.

Intro to Scrum/Agile

Other Stuff you need to know to get your project started

Next Steps

Check out some of the other resources below.
Start reading some of the books.
You have started a journey of learning – be patient and enjoy the trip.

Additional Learning Resources

Scrum
- Scrum Overview by Ken Schwaber – Website
- Scrum Overview by Mike Cohn – Website
XP
- eXtreme Programming on C2 Wiki.
User Stories
- An Introduction to User Stories – Presentation
Agile Estimation and Planning
- Agile Estimation and Planning – Presentation
Fun Stuff
- Punchy video about how Agile can improve on Waterfall
Agile Team Room
- Agile Team Room – Photos
- How does radical collocation help a team succeed?
Pairing – team collaboration on tasks
- Benefits of Pair Programming – C2 Wiki
- Benefits Research Paper – Cockburn & Williams
- 21 ways to hate pair programming
- How Pair Programming works - General concepts behind pairing and pair programming] (used in training)
- Promiscuous Pairing - Some ideas on how rapid pairing can cultivate creativity. Also, How-to Article
Agile Documentation Practices – Web Article
Agile Testing – Video (60 min)
Automated Testing
- Automated Acceptance Testing – Presentation
How Agile are you? (Agile Adoption)
- Nokia Test – basic Agile test
- Uncle Bob’s more extensive test
Crystal Clear – low ceremony Agile process
- 7 Properties of Crystal Clear – Article
- 7 Properties Mind Map

Books to Read

Stage 1: Getting the basics in place

Deepening the practice

Technical Practices

eXtremeProgramming

Other good ones

Crystal Clear: A Human-Powered Methodology for Small Teams
Managing Agile Projects
Fearless Change: Patterns for Introducing New Ideas
Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play by Luke Hohmann
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great by Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, and Ken Schwaber

More Technical Practices

Fit for Developing Software: Framework for Integrated Tests by Rick Mugridge and Ward Cunningham
Lessons Learned in Software Testing: A Context-Driven Approach by Cem Kaner, James Bach, and Bret Pettichord
Agile Database Techniques: Effective Strategies for the Agile Software Developer by Scott Ambler

Games & Simulations

Please see Learning through Agile Games.

Kanban & Lean

Please also check out Kanban and Lean Resources.

Additional Topics

Agile Contracts

Pascal Van Cauwenberghe has written a number of articles on this. Best is probably his book chapter in Managing Agile Projects. You can also read an earlier article and later blog post online.
Israel Gat has a short post on this topic.
Peter Stevens has a presentation on 10 contract forms for your next Agile project.
Alistair Cockburn describes how he used time and materials contracting to get a better result.

XPToronto and Agile User Group