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The Agile Glossary
SERIES of Terms

The skills we teach drive

real project success.
Agile Glossary
Words and terms common to Agile methods

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Acceptance Criteria The specific criteria identified by the customer for each functional requirement. The
acceptance criteria, written in easily to understand terms and from the customer’s
perspective, provides additional detail into how a feature should work and assesses
the ability of the feature to perform its intended function.

Actual Time Estimation A time-based method of estimating development work. The intent of this method is
to best approximate the amount of time required to complete a given development
task. Generally, these estimates are calculated using Ideal Engineering Hours.

Examples:

This task will be complete in 10 days. Or...

This task will be complete by January 10th. Or...
This task will require 25 development hours for completion.

Agile Often used as the abbreviation for Agile Software Development or Agile Methods.
Agile is a generic term which refers to a collection of lightweight software
development methodologies that value and support evolving requirements through
iterative development, direct Customer/Developer communication and collaboration,
self organizing cross-functional teams and continuous improvement through
frequent inspection and adaptation.

Agile Manifesto A statement of the principles and values that support the ideals of Agile Software
Development. The manifesto was drafted in February 2001 at the Snowbird Ski
Resort located in the state of Utah. Users of Agile can become signatories of this
manifesto at http://www.agilemanifesto.org

The Agile Manifesto

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others
do it. Through this work we have come to value:
• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

AgileUP Short for Agile Unified Process, it refers to a simplified version of the IBM Rational
Unified Process (RUP). Much like RUP, AgileUP is an iterative process, that utilizes
several Agile techniques and ideas for the purpose of developing business
applications. The most noticeable difference between the two processes is that
AgileUP only defines 7 key disciplines to RUP’s 9. Those disciplines are:
1. Model: The goal of this discipline is to understand the business of the
organization, the problem domain being addressed by the project, and to
identify a viable solution to address the problem domain.

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AgileUP 2. Implementation: The goal of this discipline is to transform your model(s) into
(cont.) executable code and to perform a basic level of testing, in particular unit
testing.
3. Test: The goal of this discipline is to perform an objective evaluation to ensure
quality. This includes finding defects, validating that the system works as
designed, and verifying that the requirements are met.
4. Deployment: The goal of this discipline is to plan for the delivery of the system
and to execute the plan to make the system available to end users.
5. Configuration Management: The goal of this discipline is to manage access to
your project artifacts. This includes not only tracking artifact versions over time
but also controlling and managing changes to them.
6. Project Management: The goal of this discipline is to direct the activities that
take place on the project. This includes managing risks, directing people
(assigning tasks, tracking progress, etc.) and coordinating with people and
systems outside the scope of the project to be sure that it is delivered on time
and within budget 
7. Environment: The goal of this discipline is to support the rest of the effort by
ensuring that the proper process, guidance (standards and guidelines), and
tools (hardware, software, etc.) are available for the team as needed.

Application Lifecycle Often abbreviated as ALM, it is generally used in reference to tools that help facilitate
Management the coordination of business management and software engineering practices by
integrating features related to requirements management, architecture management,
coding, testing, defect tracking and release management into a single solution.

Burn Down Chart A burn down chart is a simple, easy to understand graphical representation of “Work
Remaining” versus “Time Remaining”. Generally, “Work Remaining” will be represented
on the vertical axis while “Time Remaining” is displayed along the horizontal axis. Burn
down charts are effective tools for communicating progress and predicting when
work will be completed. The burn down chart is also an effective means for teams to
make adjustments in order to meet product/project delivery expectations.

Cadence Cadence, by definition is a noun that represents the flow or rhythm of events and the
pattern in which something is experienced. In verb form, it is used to describe the
idea of making something rhythmical. Cadence is something that Agile teams strive
to achieve as it allows teams to operate efficiently and sustainably within the iterative
cycles that most Agile methods promote. In its simplest form, cadence allows Agile
teams to focus on development and delivery of the product rather than on process.

Capacity The measurement of how much work can be completed within a given, fixed time
frame by estimating the number of available, productive work hours for an individual
or team. To accurately estimate capacity, it is important to factor in all known variables
such as meetings, holidays and vacations, as well as the effects of multi-tasking and
normal administrative tasks.

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Chickens and Pigs From the popular Chickens and Pigs story by Ken Schwaber(see below). A “Chicken”
is used to describe someone who, while involved in the process or project, is
not committed and accountable for any specific deliverables. Chickens are often
interested stake holders, managers and executives. As these individuals are not
directly involved or accountable, it is encouraged that Chickens participation
in the process is limited observation only. A “Pig”, however, is an individual who
is committed as they are directly accountable for specific project and product
deliverables. Pigs are encouraged to wholly participate in the process as they will be
accountable for the expectations set by their involvement and estimates.

The Chicken and Pig Story

A pig and a chicken are walking down a road. The chicken looks at the pig and says,
“Hey, why don’t we open a restaurant?” The pig looks back at the chicken and says,
“Good idea, what do you want to call it?” The chicken thinks about it and says, “Why
don’t we call it ‘Ham and Eggs’?” “I don’t think so,” says the pig, “I’d be committed, but
you’d only be involved.”

Complexity Points Complexity points are units of measure, based on relative sizing, used to estimate
development work in terms of complexity and/or size, versus traditional time based
methods which attempt to measure the duration of time required to complete
some unit of work. Complexity Points are similar to ‘Story Points’ (see Story Points)
but the scale used for complexity points may vary based on the differences in
implementation of this sizing approach.

Continuous Integration The practice of continuously integrating new development code into the existing
codebase. Continuous integration allows the development team to ensure that the
code repository always reflects the latest working build of the software. As developers
complete the coding of a feature, the feature is applied to the latest software
build where it is validated for defects and integrated into the codebase previously
delivered. Continuous integration practices generally include testing and build
automation, resulting in an end-to-end integration suite.

Crystal Crystal (sometimes referred to as Crystal Clear) is a lightweight, Agile software

development framework developed originally by Alistair Cockburn. Crystal, as a basic
matter of principle, is primarily focused on the collaboration and interactions between
teams of people rather than the processes and artifacts of traditional methodologies.
Crystal methods value:
• Frequent delivery of working software
• Continuous, reflective improvement
• Osmotic communication via team colocation
• Technical excellence by utilizing automated testing, configuration
management and frequent integration

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Customer Unit The Customer Unit refers to the people and roles that define and/or represent the
voice and expectations of the primary consumers of the deliverables produced
throughout the course of the project. Product Managers, Sales, Marketing, Executives
and End-User Customers are all examples of roles and titles that often comprise the
Customer Unit. In Agile projects, the Customer Unit is typically responsible for setting
the vision, project charter and roadmap, creating and maintaining product backlog
requirements and priorities, defining user acceptance criteria and communicating
with the Developer Unit.

Daily Scrum The Daily Scrum, also referred to as ‘the daily stand-up’, is a brief, daily communication
and planning forum, in which Agile/Scrum teams come together to evaluate the
health and progress of the iteration/sprint. It is also considered to be the fifth and final
level of the Agile planning process. As a daily, team planning meeting, an effective
daily scrum should be a tightly focused and time boxed meeting that occurs at
the same time and place, on a daily basis. The intent of the daily scrum is to better
understand the progress of the iteration, by all contributing team members honestly
answering the following three questions:
1. What did I accomplish yesterday?
2. What will I commit to, or complete, today?
3. What impediments or obstacles are preventing me from meeting my
commitments?

Conversation in these meetings should remain focused on answering these three

questions only. For the sake of brevity and greater team efficiency, additional discussion
stemming from these three questions should be handled independently of the daily
scrum, and should be limited to those team members who are directly involved.

Demo At the end of each iteration, the development unit performs a demo of the functionality
(Demonstration) completed during the iteration. The demo is a forum for the customer to provide
feedback on the product’s development to influence the evolution of the product.

Developer Unit The Developer Unit refers to the people that are responsible for delivering working
software that meets requirements by collaborating with the customer throughout the
development lifecycle. Typically, the Development Unit is comprised of individuals
fulfilling the technical roles of development (developers, QA, tech writer, project
manager, DBA and others), working together in one or more, cross-functional
agile teams. In agile projects, the developer unit is responsible for estimating the
backlog, working with the customer unit to plan the iterations, iteration execution,
demonstration and ultimate delivery of working software.

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Dynamic Systems Development Often abbreviated as DSDM, it is another example of a lightweight, Agile software
Method development methodology. DSDM is an iterative and incremental approach that
is largely based on the Rapid Application Development (RAD) methodology. The
method provides a 4 staged/phased framework consisting of:
1. Feasibility & Business Study
2. Functional Model / Prototype Iteration
3. Design and Build Iteration
4. Implementation

Within each of the different phases, DSDM relies on several different activities and
techniques that are all based on the following key, underlying principles:
• Projects best evolve through direct and co-located collaboration between the
developers and the users.
• Self managed and empowered teams must have the authority to make time
sensitive and critical project level decisions.
• Design and Development is incremental and evolutionary in nature and is
largely driven by regular and iterative user feedback.
• Working software deliverables are defined as systems that address the critical and
current business needs versus systems that address less critical and future needs.
• Frequent and incremental delivery of working software is valued over
infrequent delivery of perfectly working software.
• All changes introduced during development must be reversible.
• Continuous integration and QA Testing is conducted in-line, throughout the
project lifecycle.
• Visibility and transparency is encouraged through regular communication and
collaboration amongst all project stakeholders.

Epic Stories Epic stories are user stories whose scope is so large as to make them difficult to
complete in a single iteration or accurately estimate the level of effort to deliver. Epic
stories, while common when first defining the product backlog (see product backlog),
should be decomposed into smaller user stories where the requirements of the story
are defined much more narrowly in scope.

eXtreme Programing Often abbreviated as XP, it is a popular example of a lightweight, Agile software
development method. XP seeks to improve software quality by focusing on
technical excellence, while improving project agility and responsiveness to changing
requirements by valuing small yet frequent, time-boxed releases. XP provides a basic
framework for managing projects based on the following key values:
• Communication: The most effective way to communicate requirements is by
direct communication between the user and the developer 
• Simplicity: Focus on building the simplest solution that meets the needs of today.
• Feedback: Inspect, adapt and evolve the system by responding to feedback
from system tests, user acceptance tests and team input.
• Courage: By having the courage to refactor in the future, we can focus on only
building what we need today.
• Respect: Do no harm to others by striving for the highest degree of quality in
the solutions you build today.

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Feature Based Planning Feature based planning is an approach used in release planning, where features and
scope take priority over date. Release plans (see Release Planning) created utilizing
this approach are created by estimating the amount of time that will be required to
complete a certain defined amount of scope. Often this approach is utilized for new
product launches where a minimal or critical amount of feature/function must be
delivered in order for the completed product to be considered market worthy.

Feature Driven Development Feature driven development, or FDD, is an example of a lightweight, Agile approach
to development. Like many other Agile methods, FDD seeks to deliver valuable,
working software frequently in an iterative manner. FDD utilizes an incremental,
model driven approach that is based on the following 5 key activities:
1. Develop the Overall Model: Define the high level technical and functional
architecture and project vision.
2. Build the Feature List: Define the individual features that are required to meet
the needs of the defined model.
3. Plan by Feature: Create the actual working development plans by grouping the
defined requirements into feature groups or themes.
4. Design by Feature: Based on the feature based plans, design packages are
created that seek to group together small feature sets that can be developed
within 2 week, iterative periods.
5. Develop by Feature: Development feature teams, execute against the design
packages and promote completed and tested code to the main build branch
within the 2 week, time-boxed iteration.

Feature Teams Feature teams are small, cross-functional teams of development resources, focused
on designing and building specific feature groupings or areas of system functionality.
The feature team concept is utilized by FDD and other agile methods.

Fibonacci Sequence Discovered in the 12th century by Leonardo Pisano, the Fibonacci sequence is a
mathematically recursive sequence, in which the result of each subsequent term is
determined by the sum of the two previous terms. A classic example of this concept is
illustrated in the following string of numbers:

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21...

Using this example above, 1+1=2, 1+2=3, 2+3=5 and so on. The Fibonacci sequence
serves as the basis of popular agile estimating technique known as Planning Poker.

Five Levels of Agile Planning The five levels of Agile planning are Vision, Roadmap, Release, Iteration (or Sprint), and
Daily. The top level (Vision) represents the “big picture” of the overall effort and thus
the planning at this level encompasses more strategic product information and fewer
details on the product specifics. Working through to the bottom level, more details
are included in the produced plans, so that in whole, the five levels of Agile planning
represents a holistic understanding of what we are building, why we are undertaking
the effort, and how we plan to deliver.

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Ideal Hours Ideal hours is a concept often used when applying time-based estimates to
development work items. Ideal time is the time it would take to complete a given task
assuming zero interruptions or unplanned problems. Many time-based estimation
methods utilize this time scale when planning and estimating. Considering the
grossly optimistic assumptions this approach takes, the accuracy of ideal estimates
are often inversely proportional to the duration of the estimate.

INVEST (acronym) Coined by Bill Wake in eXtreme Programing Explored, INVEST is an acronym that
defines a simple set of rules used in creating well formed User Stories.
• Independent: Stories should not be dependent on other stories.
• Negotiable: Too much explicit detail regarding particulars and solutions. Stories
should capture the essence of the requirement and should not represent a
contract on how to solve it.
• Valuable: Stories should clearly illustrate value to the customer.
• Estimable: Stories should provide just enough information so they can be
estimated. It is not important to know the exact way that a particular problem
will be solved, it must be understood enough to provide a high level estimate.
• Small: Stories should strive to be granular enough in scope that they may be
completed in as little time as possible, from a few weeks to a few days.
• Testable: Stories need to be understood well enough so that a test can be
defined for it. An effective way to ensure testability is to define user acceptance
criteria for all user stories.

Iteration Often also referred to as a Sprint, an iteration is a predefined, time-boxed and

recurring period of time in which working software is created. The most commonly
used iteration durations are 2, 4 and 6 week periods. The iteration level is also
considered to be the fourth level in the five level Agile planning process.

Note: The terms Sprint and Iteration are synonyms and are effectively interchangeable.
The term sprint is widely used by teams that identify their Agile approach as Scrum,
whereas iteration is a more generic term used in the same manner.

Iteration Backlog Often also referred to as the Sprint Backlog, the iteration backlog is a subset of
user stories from the product backlog,that contains the planned scope of a specific
iteration. Generally, the iteration backlog reflects the priority and order of the release
plan and product roadmap.

Iteration Execution Often also referred to as Sprint Execution, the recurring phase within the project
lifecycle in which the Agile team executes against the iteration backlog. The goal of
this phase is to complete all iteration commitments by delivering working software
within the defined time constraints of the iteration. Typically, the iteration execution
phase begins with the iteration kickoff and culminates with the iteration review.

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Iteration Plan Often also referred to as the Sprint Plan, the iteration plan is the detailed execution
plan for a given (usually current) iteration. It defines the iteration goals and
commitments by specifying the user stories, work tasks, priorities and team member
work assignments required to complete the iteration. The iteration plan is normally
produced by the entire development unit during the iteration planning session.

Iteration Review Often also referred to as Sprint Review, the iteration review is an important
communication forum that occurs at the end of an iteration. During the iteration
review an Agile team will evaluate and agree on which stories have been completed
and which stories need to be deferred or split. The iteration review is an event that
generally signifies the closing of an iteration.

Kano Analysis Developed by Professor Noriako Kano, it is a method used for classifying and
categorizing requirements (user stories) based on their impact to customer
satisfaction. The Kano Analysis model utilizes four categories into which each
requirement can be classified. Those categories are:
• Must Have/Must Be: Baseline features, functional barriers to entry. Without
these features customers won’t use the product.
• Satisfiers: These are the features that a customer will generally expect and
make the difference between a satisfying user experience versus one that is
simply adequate. The more satisfiers the better.
• Exciters and Delighters: These are the features that ‘delight’ your customers,
they love your product because of these features. Generally these are product
differentiators.
• Dissatisfiers: These are features that customers do not want and should not be
delivered. Dissatisfiers emerge as a backlog ages and better ideas are identified
and delivered.

Lean Software Development Lean Software Development, which is rooted in the Lean Manufacturing techniques
developed by Toyota, is another popular example of a lightweight Agile approach to
product development. Much like other Agile methods, Lean attempts to address the
shortcomings of traditional software project management methods by focusing on
people and effective communication. Lean is further defined by the following seven
key principles:
• Eliminate Waste: Understand your customers needs and seek to deliver
solutions that address only those needs as simply as possible.
• Create Knowledge: Create a team-based environment in which all individual
participate in the design and problem-solving process. Create a culture that
encourages constant improvement through regular inspection and adaptation.
• Build Quality In: Embrace re-factoring and test automation and test driven
development. Understand your test requirements and plans before you
begin coding.
• Defer Commitment: Avoid dependencies by embracing loose coupling.
Maximize flexibility by narrowly defining requirements and schedule
irreversible decisions to the last possible moment.

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Lean Software Development • Optimize the Whole: Focus on the entire value stream. Understand that a
(cont.) completed product is the sum of the all the various contributors and the result
of effective collaboration.
• Deliver Fast: Reduce risk and volatility by limiting scope. Commit only to work
for which you have the capacity to complete. Decompose work to discrete
actionable tasks and release work often and iteratively.
• Respect People: Trust that your people know best how to do their jobs and
empower them to make the decisions needed to complete their commitments.

Meta-Scrum The Meta-Scrum is a communication forum that is often used in larger projects that
scale across multiple Agile teams, for the purpose of coordinating resources and
dependencies. Generally, this planning forum will involve the product owners, project
managers and scrum masters.

MoSCoW MoSCoW is a feature classification/categorization method, rooted in rapid application

development, that is commonly utilized in Agile projects. The method is intended for
short, time-boxed development iterations where focus should remain on those items
that are deemed most critical for delivery within the time-boxed period. MoSCoW itself
is a modified acronym, which represents 4 different levels of priority classification.
• Must Have: These are time critical project requirements that must be delivered
in order for the project not to be considered an outright failure. These are
generally baseline, or critical path features.
• Should Have: These are also critical project level requirements, however they
are not as time critical as Must Have requirements.
• Could Have: These are considered to be the Nice to Have requirements.
Features that are not necessarily required for the success of the iteration or
project, but features that would increase end-user/customer satisfaction in
the completed product.
• Won’t Have: These are lowest priority requirements that will not be scheduled
or planned within the delivery time box.

Paired Programming A programming technique where two developers work together at a single
workstation on the development of a single feature. Paired programming allows for
better review of the code as it is created and also allows one developer to consider
the strategic direction of the feature while the other produces the code. Paired
programming often yields higher quality code and can allow for cross-training
opportunities among team members of differing skill levels.

Persona A fictional character that is created to represent the attributes of a group of the
product’s users. Personas are helpful tools to use as a guide when deciding on a
product’s features, functionality, or visual design. Personas allow a team to easily
identify with a fictional version of the product’s end users.

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Planning Game A planning meeting with the goal of selecting user stories for a release or iteration.
The user stories selected for inclusion in the iteration or release should be is based
on which user stories will deliver the highest value to the business given current
development estimates.

Planning Poker Planning poker is a team based exercise that is commonly used for assigning
relative estimate values to user stories/requirements to express the effort required
to deliver specific features or functionality. The game utilizes playing cards, printed
with numbers based on a modified fibonacci sequence (0,1/2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 20, 40,
100). Equipped with playing cards, all members of the development unit team and
the product owner meet together to discuss product backlog requirements for the
purpose of reaching a consensus based estimate. The rules of the game are as follows:
• The team and the product owner select from the backlog a requirement that
all agree is small enough in size and complexity to be considered a 2. This
becomes the baseline requirement.
• With the baseline requirements selected, the product owner selects a
requirement from the backlog and describes it greater detail, allowing the team
to ask any clarifying questions. Discussion regarding the requirement should be
limited in time to 5–8 minutes.
• Once everyone on the team is satisfied with the details, each player pulls a
numbered card from their deck that they feel best represents the current
requirements size and complexity relative to the baseline requirement or other
known, estimated requirements. This card is placed face down.
• Once all the players have made their selection, all cards are turned face up and
revealed to the group.
• Those players with high and/or low estimates are asked to justify their selection
by discussing with the team.
• After the outliers have justified their selections, the team repeats the estimation
process until group consensus achieved.
• This process is repeated as much as needed in order to score all requirements
from the backlog.

Product Backlog The product backlog is a prioritized and estimated list of all outstanding product/
project requirements, features, defects and other work items. The product backlog
is typically owned and managed by the product owner who reviews it on a regular
cadence to ensure that the development unit is focusing on the completion of those
items that represent the highest impact on the overall product value.

Product Owner Often referred to as the “Voice of Customer” on Agile projects or the “Product
Manager” on traditional projects, the product owner is the person responsible for
communicating the customer requirements. While considered part of the customer
unit, the product owner role is critical to the success of an Agile product development
effort. In addition to communicating requirements, the product owner is responsible
for defining user acceptance criteria for requirements, prioritizing and managing the
product backlog, as well as collaborating with the development unit throughout the
iterative development cycle.

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Rapid Application Development Rapid application development, often abbreviated simply as RAD, is a software
development methodology that favors rapid and iterative prototyping in lieu of
detailed and comprehensive plans, and is often considered an example of Agile
development methods. RAD promotes a highly collaborative, team based approach
to developing software, by evolving requirements through frequent and iterative
delivery of working prototypes.

Rational Unified Process Created by Rational Software (which was later acquired by IBM), the Rational Unified
Process (RUP) is an iterative development process that seeks to increase development
agility by providing a flexible, best practice based life cycle management framework.
RUP prescribes the utilization of 9 key disciplines extended across 4 main project
phases. Those phases are:
1. Inception Phase
2. Elaboration Phase
3. Construction Phase
4. Transition Phase

The 9 key disciplines are as follows:

1. Model: The goal of this discipline is to understand the business of the
organization, the problem domain being addressed by the project, and to
identify a viable solution to address the problem domain.
2. Requirements: The goal of this discipline is to elicit stakeholder feature/
function requirements in order to define the scope of the project.
3. Analysis and Design: The goal of this discipline is the define the requirements
into actionable and executable designs and models.
4. Implementation The goal of this discipline is to transform your model(s) into
executable code and to perform a basic level of testing, in particular unit testing.
5. Test The goal of this discipline is to perform an objective evaluation to ensure
quality. This includes finding defects, validating that the system works as
designed and verifying that the requirements are met.
6. Deployment The goal of this discipline is to plan for the delivery of the system
and to execute the plan to make the system available to end users.
7. Configuration Management The goal of this discipline is to manage access to
your project artifacts. This includes not only tracking artifact versions over time
but also controlling and managing changes to them.
8. Project Management The goal of this discipline is to direct the activities that
takes place on the project. This includes managing risks, directing people
(assigning tasks, tracking progress, etc.)and coordinating with people and
systems outside the scope of the project to be sure that it is delivered on time
and within budget.
9. Environment The goal of this discipline is to support the rest of the effort by
ensuring that the proper process, guidance (standards and guidelines), and
tools (hardware, software, etc.) are available for the team as needed.

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Refactoring Refactoring refers to the process of modifying and revising development code in
order to improve performance, efficiency, readability, or simplicity without affecting
functionality. As Agile methods advocate simplicity in design, solving only the
problems that exist today and technical excellence through continuous improvement,
code refactoring is something that should be embraced by teams and made part of
the normal development process. Refactoring is often seen by management as an
investment in the value of longevity and adaptability of the product over time.

Regression Test A test completed to validate previously completed and tested code. The regression
test is performed in an effort to ensure that subsequent deliveries of code segments
have not corrupted previously completed code. These tests are also often performed
after defects are remediated to ensure that the fixes have not corrupted any other
portion of the software.

Relative Estimation Relative estimation is a software estimation technique that attempts to size
development requirements and work items not in terms of time or duration, but
rather in terms of size and complexity relative to the size and complexity of other
known requirements and work items. Relative estimation is commonly used in Agile
development methods, and forms the basis of the planning poker estimation game.

Release Plan A release plan is a document that further distills the roadmap by describing all of the
anticipated activities, resources, and responsibilities related to a particular release,
including the estimated duration of that release. Unlike in traditional waterfall
managed projects, Agile methods seek to ensure the highest degree of plan accuracy
by encouraging regular and iterative re-planning based on actual iteration results.
Additionally, release planning is considered to be the third level in the five- level Agile
planning process.

Retrospective By dictionary definition, retrospective refers to process of looking back on, and/or
contemplating the past. In Agile methods, a retrospective is a communication forum
in which Agile teams come together to celebrate team successes and to reflect on
what can be improved. The goal of the meeting is to develop a plan that the team will
use to apply lessons learned going forward. Unlike in traditionally managed projects
where these meetings (often called “post-mortems” or “lessons learned” meetings) are
typically held at the conclusion of a project, Agile methods advocate a more regular
and iterative approach, and encourage scheduling these meetings at the conclusion
of each and every iteration. Retrospectives are an immensely powerful tool and are
extremely useful in fostering an environment of continuous improvement.

Roadmap The roadmap (or product roadmap) is a document that further distills the product
vision as defined in the product charter into a high level plan. Commonly, the
roadmap will attempt to outline project work that spans one or more releases,
by grouping requirements into prioritized themes and estimating the execution
schedule against said themes. Additionally, roadmap is considered to be the second
level in the five-level Agile planning process.

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Schedule Based Planning Schedule based planning is an approach used in release planning, where date and
schedule take priority over features and scope. Release plans created utilizing the
approach are created by estimating the amount of scope that can be completed
within defined release time box.

Scrum Scrum is a incremental and iterative software development framework, and is

arguably one of the most commonly used Agile methods. Unlike other Agile methods,
Scrum is not an acronym. The method was coined as such by Hirotaka Takeuchi and
Ikujiro Nonaka in a HBR article titled ‘The New Product Development Game’ written in
1986, in reference to the sport of rugby. The process involved was developed by Ken
Schwaber and Dr. Jeff Sutherland.

Scrum outlines a process framework in which Product Owners, Scrum Masters

and Team Members, all work together collaboratively to define product and
sprint backlogs that are executed in short, time-boxed iterations that are
called sprints. At the end of each sprint, a working increment of the software is
delivered/demonstrated to the product owner and the entire process repeats itself.

ScrumMaster A key role in the Scrum product development framework, the ScrumMaster is the
person who is primarily responsible for facilitating all Scrum meetings, removing team
impediments, protecting teams from external distractions, keeping the team honest
and on-track to ensure that the team is best able to deliver against the sprint goals.
As Scrum teams are self-organizing and self-managed, it is important to differentiate
between a ScrumMaster and a traditional manager. Rather than attempt to manage
the scrum team, effective ScrumMasters work for the team, and are often best
described as servant-leaders. Although many ScrumMasters were once traditional
project managers, ScrumMasters focus on achieving the best performance from the
product team and holding the team accountable to their commitments.

Scrum of Scrums Similar in intent to the Daily Scrum (or Daily Stand Up), the Scrum of Scrums is a daily
communication forum commonly used in larger projects utilizing multiple scrum
teams. As more teams are introduced, the likelihood of intra-team impediments due
to overlapping work and dependencies increases. The Scrum of Scrums is an effective
way of managing these impediments. Typically, this meeting occurs after all of the
individual team Scrum meetings have been completed. An individual from each
Scrum team (usually the Scrum Master) is tasked with representing the Scrum team in
this meeting.

The agenda of this meeting is virtually identical to that of the daily scrum, other than
the three questions are modified slightly to better reflect the focus on teams.
1. What did my team accomplish yesterday?
2. What will my team commit to, or complete, today?
3. What impediments or obstacles are preventing my team from meeting
its commitments?

The Agile Glossary of Terms - 14 - ASPE-SDLC

Single Done Definition Single Done Definition is a concept that attempts to address the phenomena where
the number of different interpretations of the word “done” is equally proportional
to the number of individuals and roles found in an Agile team. Understanding
that progress is measured in terms of delivered, working software, and that team
credit for iteration commitments is only realized when said commitments are fully
completed, it becomes clear that a common team understanding of “completed”
is required. By explicitly defining and documenting all of the various elements that
must be completed before a work item can be considered “done”, the likelihood of
delivering working software is improved as teams ensure a consistent and common
understanding of “done” as it pertains to team iteration commitments.

Sprint Often also referred to as an Iteration, a sprint is a predefined, time-boxed and

recurring period of time in which working software is created. The most commonly
used sprint durations are 2, 4 and 6 week periods. The sprint level is also considered to
be the fourth level in the five-level Agile planning process.

Note: The terms Sprint and Iteration are synonyms and are effectively
interchangeable. The term sprint is widely used by teams that identify their
Agile approach as Scrum, whereas iteration is a more generic term used in
the same manner.

Sprint Backlog Often also referred to as the Iteration Backlog, the sprint backlog is a subset of user
stories from the product backlog, that contains the planned scope of a specific
iteration. Generally, the iteration backlog reflects the priority and order of the release
plan and product roadmap.

Sprint Plan Often also referred to as the Iteration Plan, the sprint plan is the detailed execution
plan for a given (usually current) iteration. It defines the iteration goals and
commitments by specifying the user stories, work tasks, priorities and team member
work assignments required to complete the iteration. The Sprint Plan is normally
produced by the entire development unit during the sprint planning session.

Sprint Review Often also referred to as Iteration Review, the sprint review is an important
communication forum that occurs at the end of a sprint. During the sprint review
an Agile team will evaluate and agree on which stories have been completed and
which stories need to be deferred or split. The sprint review is an event that generally
signifies the closing of a sprint. Often times, teams will also use the sprint review as a
forum to demonstrate the work that was completed within the sprint.

Story Points Story points are unit-less measures of relative size assigned to requirements for
functionality. Story points are assigned by the entire team utilizing the planning
poker exercise. Story points allow the team to focus on the pure size and complexity
of delivering a specific piece of functionality rather than trying to perfectly estimate a
duration of time required for the completion of the functionality.

The Agile Glossary of Terms - 15 - ASPE-SDLC

Story Review The story review forum, is a brief meeting that occurs prior to the start of new
iteration and is attended by the product owner and development team. The intent
of this meeting is to give teams a better understanding regarding upcoming
stories/requirements so that they may be better prepared for the iteration planning
meeting. Generally, story review meetings are between an hour or two in length and are
scheduled about one week prior to the upcoming iteration planning/kickoff meeting.

Sustainable Pace The concept that developers should not work an excessive number of hours due
to the possibility of “developer burnout.” This approach reflects studies that have
determined the team productivity greatly decreases when teams work in excess
of 40 hours per week. Teams working at a sustainable pace are more effective in
accurately predicting their capacity over time while also maintaining the quality of
their deliverables.

Task Boards Task boards are visual communication and planning tools that are extremely useful
for teams working in co-located environments. Typically, task boards take the form
of a simple matrix, utilizing different work states (examples: not started, in progress,
QA ready, completed) as column headers, and User Story Cards as the row headers.
Within the matrix are the discrete tasks that describe the work required to complete a
story. As the iteration progresses, tasks should move from one end of the task board
to the other, through all of the various states. Due to their intuitive and simple nature,
tasks boards provide a powerful means of measuring and communicating iteration
health and progress.

Team Member Simply put, a team member is anyone on a scrum team who is not a Product
Owner or Scrum Master, who is responsible for specific iteration deliverables and
is accountable for contributing to team iteration commitments and goals. A team
member may be a developer, a technical writer, an architect, quality analyst or any
other role essential to the production and delivery of working software.

Test Automation The practice of using software to automate the testing process. Testing automation
requires up-front planning and configuration of the testing software to ensure that
the execution of the test meets the expectations of the customer. Test automation
allows for more frequent regression testing without increasing the resource
requirements to execute the tests.

Test Driven Development More a technique than an actual development methodology, test driven
development, often abbreviated as TDD, is a practice that is commonly utilized
in Agile methods. TDD advocates the discipline of building working code, by first
designing and building tests that exercise how the completed code should work, then
creating the code so as to make all the pre-defined tests pass. The idea being that if a
developer first understands the tests required to validate how the code should work
and when it is complete, that developer will be much more thoughtful and successful

The Agile Glossary of Terms - 16 - ASPE-SDLC

Test Driven Development in designing and developing working, quality software. While TDD promotes the
(cont.) utilization of automated testing tools combined with version and source code control
tools, automation should not be considered a strict requirement as there is still
considerable value in simply following the basic, quality driven principles of TDD.

Unit Test A test performed by the developer to verify and validate the code that the developer
completed is fit for use. The Unit Test is often the first level of testing that is completed
as a part of a comprehensive test approach for software development.

Use Case A use case is a document that attempts to describes system behavior from an
end-user’s perspective, by outlining the flow of data, system behavioral interchanges
and corresponding end-user interactions in a sequential, step-by-step manner. While
there is no single standard or format that they must follow, and use cases should vary
in detail based on the needs of the requirements, uses cases often make use of the
following artifacts to describe how a system should work.
• Goal: What is the end goal and desired effect of the functionality that the use
case is attempting to describe.
• Summary: A brief, high-level and easily understood description of the use case.
• Actors: The consumers of the system that will be interacting with the system
within the scope of the use cases. Actors can be people or other systems or
services.
• Preconditions: System conditions and assumptions that must be true for the
use case to be valid.
• Triggers: The specific events required to initiate the use case.
• Body Text: The description of each of the steps involved/required to complete
the use case. Generally, body text will focus only the main (happy) path.
• Alternative Path: Steps that deviate from the main path due to exceptions,
alternative logic or other conditional events.
• Post Conditions: The changes in the system and data as a result of executing
steps outlined in the use case.

User Acceptance Tests User acceptance tests describe the tests that must be successfully executed in
order to validate that specific piece of functionality meets the needs of the user as
outlined in the customer requirements. As many Agile methods advocate the use
of narrowly defined requirements that speak from a specific user’s perspective (i.e.
user stories), it is recommended that user acceptance criteria follow similar form and
define validation steps from the same user perspective. User acceptance tests are
an essential component of user requirements, as without well defined acceptance
criteria, it becomes difficult to clearly define the scope of any given requirement.

User Roles A key ingredient in defining Agile requirements, user roles are used to describe the
unique perspectives of the different consumers that will interact with the working
software. Much like actors in a use case, user roles should not just be limited to
the human consumers of the software and should also include any other relevant
external software or service.

The Agile Glossary of Terms - 17 - ASPE-SDLC

User Stories User stories are simple, brief and concise statements, used to describe customer
software requirements, from a particular user’s perspective. User stories are often used
in Agile methods for capturing and communicating customer requirements, as their
short format allow for quick and easy requirements gathering, and their high-level
structure encourages design evolution through team collaboration.

Commonly captured on 3x5 index cards so as to force brevity, user stories should seek
to describe requirements as granularly as possible while still retaining customer value.
User stories are not intended to describe complex system requirements on their own,
but rather only narrow portions of requirements singularly, and through the whole,
the full system requirements emerge.

A recommended format for users stories is as follows:

As a (user role), I would like (statement of need), so that I can (desired benefit).

Or for example

As an Agile student, I would like an Agile glossary, so that I can understand

the meanings of words that I hear in training.

Velocity Used in combination with relative (story point) estimation, static teams, and fixed
time-boxed iterations, velocity is a predictive metric that is useful for long/mid term
planning and estimation. Simply put, velocity attempts to measure the number
of story points a single team can complete within a single, time-boxed iteration.
Assuming that all of the requirements in a product backlog have all been estimated
using a similar relative estimation point scale, it becomes possible to estimate the
number of time-boxed iterations required to complete said backlog by simply
dividing the team velocity value by the sum of the backlog’s complexity point total.

Vision Vision is the first and highest level in the Agile planning process. Activities that are
often associated with this level of planning are the creation of project charters,
feasibility studies, funding decisions, definition of project success factors/metrics, and
the formation of individual teams. Typically, vision planning is very strategic in nature
and only occurs on an annual basis.

Working Software The term used to describe the level of completeness that features developed during
an iteration should achieve by the conclusion of the iteration. Working software
implies that the features demonstrated to the customer at the end of an iteration
should be functionally complete and will not require redevelopment in order to
prepare the functionality for a production environment.

Used in one of the 12 Agile Principles

Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months,

with a preference to the shorter timescale.

The Agile Glossary of Terms - 18 - ASPE-SDLC