Employing the agile methodology, it intended to create an environment to train and develop skills to construct a software solution (with a real commercial client).
Extreme Programming (an agile methodology) was compared with the Discovery Method (a design-led methodology) to evaluate the effect of the XP methodology. The variables were work related well being, work group cohesion, positive affectivity and quality of the software.
The effectiveness of the agile methodology was also examined by identifying the difficult practices in the XP methodology and the reasons for the difficulties. Cognitive theory indicates that for a new approach to be accepted easily, it must conform to the ways the brain accepts information, stimulates the mind, and thus motivates the developers.
The collection of data was assisted by Software Engineering Observatory at the University of Sheffield, which was run by the Verification and Testing (VT) research group, an XP team in IBM, Hursley, United Kingdom.
This attempt could complement technical-focused methodologies in software construction.
Sharifah Lailee Syed-Abdullah
UiTM, Perlis, Malaysia
