This week, JargonSpy is delving into the world of so-called agile development methods, a movement that has changed the way software is created and distributed.

The larger impact of agile methods can be seen in emerging forms of corporate governance. Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ), for example, can be considered a massive experiment in agile development theory applied to a large organization.

But to understand this, JargonSpy will walk through the land of "Scrum" and "eXtreme programming" and take a closer look at words like "cowboy coding," "pair programming" and "self-organizing teams."

If you look at the Agile Manifesto, you'll find the canonical definition of the principles of agile development:

--Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.

--Working software over comprehensive documentation.

--Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.

--Responding to change over following a plan.

Scrum and eXtreme programming are probably the most widely used agile development methods; each addresses a different challenge, and they're frequently used together.

Scrum is a project-management methodology usually applied to software development that changes the rules as follows: Requirements are set forth in a long list that is prioritized by the sponsors, usually management.

A Scrum begins when a team examines the list and commits to implementing a specific set of requirements in working software in a defined time period, usually a month.

Every day, in a Scrum meeting, the team gets together and says what they did in the past 24 hours to get the job done, what they will do in the next 24 and what is in their way. The Scrum master runs the meeting and takes responsibility for removing obstacles.

Otherwise, the team is self-organizing and everyone volunteers to do things that help move the project forward. One cardinal rule is that management cannot interrupt the Scrum and reset priorities, or add or remove requirements.

Scrum is a great remedy for a situation in which management is continually changing the direction of teams, leaving everyone in a state of confusion about what is important.

While Scrum could be applied to almost any sort of project, eXtreme programming is a method that focuses much more on the software development process.

In eXtreme programming--XP, for short--requirements are set forth as small chunks, called stories, that explain the user interaction desired. Programming happens by first creating a test for a unit of functionality (usually called a unit test). With the test in place, you create the code that does the work. Eventually, hundreds of tests are created and run every time a change is made to see if any problems developed.

Coding takes place in pairs, with two people in front of one screen. Users or appropriate representatives must be nearby to answer questions about what they want. Simplicity is valued, meaning the code is created just to implement the current requirements, not to implement requirements that have not been asked for or may be needed down the road.

The result of this is code that can be changed and redesigned with confidence. If you break something while making a change, the tests will let you know right away. XP is a great remedy for a situation in which your software is unreliable or doesn't implement what your customers want.

JargonSpy thinks the point of agile methods can be made quite simply: There is a huge payoff for being skeptical of requirements that have not been tested via experience. "Waterfall" is the name given to the previous generation of development methods, because development started with requirements and proceeded from stage to stage without ever starting over and questioning initial assumptions.

Agile methods are iterative and incremental and all about questioning your understanding. They attempt to invest the smallest amount of effort possible to create working software that can be put into the hands of users.

Once people start using the software, they can then understand what they really want. The emphasis on learning from people who use the system is what distinguishes agile methods from cowboy coding, which is just coding up whatever you think is right.

Agile methods have had a huge influence on the way software is created, and Google has applied this philosophy at scale to running a large company. Google has a bias toward taking action and learning from experience, which is very, very agile.

The company set forth boldly to digitize huge amounts of information without waiting for every legal issue to be addressed--not what your mom's or dad's company would have done.

Google has pioneered the "permanent beta" by launching software that is unfinished. This approach lowers expectations for quality and allows users to engage with the software and find problems without being angry about the defects they encounter.

Gmail, for example, is still in beta. Google's products are designed to be automated and documented as much as possible through information incorporated into the user interface. Each Google product seems to be on a walkabout, changing a bit here and there each quarter as experience is gained.

At a corporate level, the agility is baked in in numerous ways. Google has rejected the notion of providing specific earnings guidance to Wall Street, a practice that assumes more predictability than most companies, large or small, can actually deliver.

On a team level, the one day a week each Google employee is allotted for innovation essentially creates a research marketplace. For a significant project to succeed, more than one person must be involved.

For this to happen, someone must convince others to spend their innovation time on the project. This creates a marketplace in which the individual programmers at Google essentially invest in the ideas that are most compelling.

Ideas that attract a lot of contributions are likely to be compelling in one way or another. While it is not a development methodology, this structure feels agile. JargonSpy is curious to find more examples of the influence of agile development.

Source:forbes.com