Extreme Programming Pocket Guide

Rating:
Summary: Good concise intro to XP.
Review: If you are looking for a quick introduction to Extreme Programming (XP), then this is your book. Inside this gem is the essence of XP. chromatic has boiled down the original XP manifesto (extreme programming explained by Kent Beck) and many other books in the XP series into one little book.

The book covers the following topics:
XP Values
XP Practices
XP Events
XP Artifacts
XP Roles
Coding, XP Style
Adopting XP

While much of the information in this pocket guide is available in other books, I do not think that I have seen such a concise summary of Extreme Programming before. I would recommend this book to anyone who may be gathering an XP team together or is interested in learning the highlights of XP in a short time. That said, experienced XP practitioners will not find anything new in this book, but if you need a quick reference this book may be for you as well.

Rating:
Summary: Good concise intro to XP.
Review: If you are looking for a quick introduction to Extreme Programming (XP), then this is your book. Inside this gem is the essence of XP. chromatic has boiled down the original XP manifesto (extreme programming explained by Kent Beck) and many other books in the XP series into one little book.

The book covers the following topics:
XP Values
XP Practices
XP Events
XP Artifacts
XP Roles
Coding, XP Style
Adopting XP

While much of the information in this pocket guide is available in other books, I do not think that I have seen such a concise summary of Extreme Programming before. I would recommend this book to anyone who may be gathering an XP team together or is interested in learning the highlights of XP in a short time. That said, experienced XP practitioners will not find anything new in this book, but if you need a quick reference this book may be for you as well.

Rating:
Summary: Very good concise guide...
Review: In today's world of tech books that are hundreds of pages long, it's nice to see a short, "no fluff" guide to a subject that is actually usable. This book fills that bill nicely.

Even if you've read about and implemented XP in your shop, there are times you need to review one of the points about how it all works together. Since the author covers all the main points of XP, you can quickly find the information you need. You also get a nice cross-reference at the end of each chapter that shows how each point relies on other parts of the methodology. I find this very useful if you are faced with having to modify XP for your use. It's recommended that you implement XP in its entirety, as it's meant to be more than the sum of its part. But if you have to tweak something, you know how it will affect the other areas.

I would not recommend this book as your only resource if you were just starting to implement XP. You really need to read Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck. He's the founder of XP, and that book goes into much more detail as to the whys of the process. But this book is one that each member of the team should have to keep the concepts fresh.

This is a very good book to use as a supplemental reference or reminder guide if you're using the XP methodology. If you were looking for a concise explanation of XP, this would also work for you. If you were looking for a more in-depth explanation of the methodology, I would recommend one of the books by Kent Beck.

Rating:
Summary: Very good concise guide...
Review: In today's world of tech books that are hundreds of pages long, it's nice to see a short, "no fluff" guide to a subject that is actually usable. This book fills that bill nicely.

Even if you've read about and implemented XP in your shop, there are times you need to review one of the points about how it all works together. Since the author covers all the main points of XP, you can quickly find the information you need. You also get a nice cross-reference at the end of each chapter that shows how each point relies on other parts of the methodology. I find this very useful if you are faced with having to modify XP for your use. It's recommended that you implement XP in its entirety, as it's meant to be more than the sum of its part. But if you have to tweak something, you know how it will affect the other areas.

I would not recommend this book as your only resource if you were just starting to implement XP. You really need to read Extreme Programming Explained by Kent Beck. He's the founder of XP, and that book goes into much more detail as to the whys of the process. But this book is one that each member of the team should have to keep the concepts fresh.

This is a very good book to use as a supplemental reference or reminder guide if you're using the XP methodology. If you were looking for a concise explanation of XP, this would also work for you. If you were looking for a more in-depth explanation of the methodology, I would recommend one of the books by Kent Beck.