The Agile Manifesto, introduced in 2001 by a group of software developers, outlines 12 principles to guide the development of software in an agile manner. These principles underpin various Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming (XP). Here are the 12 Agile principles:
- Customer Satisfaction: Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
- Welcome Changing Requirements: Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
- Frequent Delivery: Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
- Collaboration: Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
- Build Projects Around Motivated Individuals: Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
- Face-to-Face Communication: The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
- Working Software: Working software is the primary measure of progress.
- Sustainable Development: Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
- Technical Excellence: Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
- Simplicity: Simplicity–the art of maximizing the amount of work not done–is essential.
- Self-Organizing Teams: The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
- Reflect and Adjust: At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
These principles emphasize a flexible and collaborative approach to software development, focusing on delivering real value to customers, responding to change, and maintaining high standards of quality. They provide a philosophical foundation for many agile practices and frameworks used today.
