Planning Extreme Programming

In 1996 I was lucky enough to work on the C3 project for a year - this was the project that gave birth to Extreme Programming. I learned many things by taking part in that project, but one thing that particularly impressed me was the approach to planning. Not just was the project run on firmly iterative lines, it included a planning process that was simple, agile and remarkably effective.

After Kent's seminal “white book” came out, we talked about what kinds of books should follow on. Somehow Kent and I talked each other into collaborating on a book that focused on the planning side of Extreme Programming. Although it was based on the C3 experience, it also added lessons both we, and other early XPers, had learned from the first wave of XP projects.

Now there are quite a few XP and agile books out there, many of which focus on planning and project management issues. This books has consequently faded into the background. But while I think that many of the these books are valuable, they also reflect the growing flexibility and hence the complexity of the agile ecosystem. The nice thing about this book is its simplicity, focusing on simple and central techniques such as breaking down a project into stories, the correct use of velocity and yesterday's weather, the essentials of estimating, and the principles of XP (and agile) planning.