More than 1000 Videos and Tutorials on SoftDevTube.com

There are now more than 1000 software development related videos and tutorials categorized on SoftDevTube.com. SoftDevTube is a repository of videos, interviews and tutorials focused on all software development activities: UML, Agile Methodologies (eXtreme Programming, Scrum, TDD, FDD,..), Software Testing, Software Configuration Management, Database Modeling, Coding (Java, .NET, ruby, python, C/C++, Cobol,… )  Rich Interface Application (Ajax, Flex, Silverlight), Software Project Planning and Management, Test Automation, Software Analysis and Design, Quality Assurance, Software Process Assessment and Improvement, Software Development Tools, Risk Management.

The Software Development Articles Directory Has Now More Than 1500 References

From architecture to testing, through Java, .NET or PHP, you will find in this directory more than 1500 handpicked, described and categorized articles that will help you improve your software development expertise or learn something in a new area.

Spring 2009 issue of Methods & Tools

Methods & Tools is a free e-newsletter for software developers, testers and project managers. Spring 2009 issue’s content:

* How to Build Articulate Class Models and get Real Benefits from UML
* When Good Architecture Goes Bad
* Finding a Partner to Trust: The Agile RFP
* Database Locking: What it is, Why it Matters and What to do About it
* Code Generation for Dummies

80 pages of software development knowledge that you can download from
http://www.methodsandtools.com/mt/download.php?spring09

From Finger in the Air Estimating to Finger Pointing Tracking

As Giovanni Asproni says it “estimation is a fundamental activity of every project”. Or at least it should be. The meaning of “estimation” varies however often for the different participants to software development projects. For the customer, “estimation” means an almost accurate amount of money he will spend and time it will need before he gets what he wants. For the project manager, it is an early commitment to the customer and from the developer to do something for a deadline. For the developer, it is the amount of time that he thinks he could do the stuff, if everything goes right.

The experienced developer will often add a 50% cushion to his estimates, knowing that not everything goes right. You can have an additional meaning in the case of outsourcing. For the salesperson, the estimation is the maximum price he can ask, while still having a lot of chances to sign a deal. A lot of young engineers will remind with astonishment hearing in a pre-sales meeting a salesperson answering to the customer that everything he wants is indeed possible… and for a cheap price too ;o)

For a developer, estimation is often equaled to fixing deadlines. He could then feel trapped by the original commitment that created expectations for management and customers. Customers have often two fixed expectations: delivery date and functionalities. Therefore, the effort is the only variable left to adjust the project activity. You can often witness a poor transition from estimation to planning with project managers that dream to have a baby in one month, if only they could manage a team of nine women. Because initial expectations cannot be achieved in many projects, the finger in the air used for estimating get then pointed downwards for blaming people: first from customers to project managers, then from project managers to developers. So print Giovanni’s article and give it to your customer before your next project planning meeting.

My 10 Favorites Agile Project Management Articles

This is a (personal) list of articles dealing with agile project management that I like. I have chosen to include material that is longer than the usual (short) blog posting. I encourage readers to give more objectivity to this subjective set by submitting in the comments what they preferred ;o)

Agile, Multidisciplinary Teamwork by Gautam Ghosh

The Agile Customer’s Toolkit by Tom Poppendieck

Bridging Agile and Traditional Development Methods: A Project Management Perspective by Paul E. McMahon

Managing the Work in an Agile Project by Dan Rawsthorne

A Governance Model for Incremental, Concurrent, or Agile Projects by Alistair Cockburn

Measuring Integrated Progress on Agile Software Development Projects by Tamara Sulaiman & Hubert Smits

Visualizing Agile Projects using Kanban Boards by Kenji Hiranabe

The Pomodoro Technique (The Pomodoro) by Francesco Cirillo

Agile Fixed Price Projects part 1: “The Price Is Right” by Pascal Van Cauwenberghe
Agile Fixed Price Projects part 2: “Do you want agility with that?”

The Need for Agile Project Management by Mike Cohn and Ken Schwaber

Additional agile project management article resources

Agile Alliance Library
Scrum Alliance Library
Agile Journal
DZone Agile Zone
InfoQ Agile Section
Methods & Tools Articles Archive
Mountain Goat Articles
Software Development Articles, Agile Section