This turned out to be the XtC's first birthday party, and a fine way to celebrate.
KentBeck attended! BruceAnderson led a roundtable discussion. We all reflected for a minute on our most burning question, then the person who had the most burning question asked it. Kent answered briefly, followed by general discussion. When the discussion petered out, someone else asked their question. This went on for several beers/hours. The questions (and answers) were:
What is it that makes people want to work this way?
wanting people to like you as much as possible before you die
wanting to tell the truth about your work all the time
...
Who is responsible? (is there such a thing as collective responsibility?)
responsibility and authority should be aligned (is this a balance between ethics and politics??)
Example: when a project goes seriously pear-shaped, managers will often transfer the burden of responsibility on to the developers - who do not have commensurate authority.
Those cards (project management):
Sign up
accept responsibility
make estimate
Early feedback
truth
Focus
go as fast as possible
Reflection
persistent problems (removing masochism - we discovered)
How much time should you spend on design?
I don't think there was an answer to this one. Which is an answer, I guess.
Tom wrote on a piece of paper that Keith now has these three things that Kent said were characteristic of XP (and that any supposed "new practice" would have to be in accordance with):
work in/require short cycles
provide concrete feedback
be personal
There's also something scribbled down here about eliminating the illusion of certainty, and a note to the effect that the old "double it and move up an order of magnitude" estimating technique is LoadFactor without the feedback. --KeithB
oh dear, have tried to remember details (see above) but I was XtremelyDrunk?. --SallyMoss
Has anybody caught these discussions in more detail as I couldnt make it ? I didnt realise that the thursday club night was still on. --AlexCraxton
This Thursday was a virtual Tuesday, but yes, there's someone there pretty much every week.
Outstanding evening chaps. My first, er, Tuesday and it was great to meet you, and so many others. I'll try to get up to town again to see a more usual session. Thanks to Oli for the drinks.
Sally - did you ever get the cards Kent wrote for you back? If not mail me and I'll make sure that Gareth sends them on. Of course she did; they're faithfully rendered in her notes above. -- GarethSB
Seconded. Lots of thought provoking discussion and communication. Thanks to BruceAnderson for keeping us all in order and making sure things didn't get too chaotic.
It was a liberating experience! I've taken away many thoughts from the meeting. I'll be seeing more XP'ers at XtC.
-A quote from the evening:
Life is too short for crappy code (Kent Beck, 16/11/00 9:42pm)
JohnClayton
The thing I remember from the discussion was that the role of the project manager in XP was to face outward, checking that things are not interfering with the team rather than facing in keeping an eye on the team as in ordinary development.
Read the article in Computer Weekly on Friday, got the book on Monday and very keen to attend tonight, but don't want to screw up the numbers, will this be okay? -- PeterBlackburn? & DaveSykes?
Er, hello. XP virgin here. Do you let newbies in by any chance? (will not be offended if no!) - Sally
''Of course we do! Many XP-Virgins have visited us for an evening and left much wiser (no pun intended actually). We can probably show you some paired programming or answer any questions. And if Kent is actually in town, he's sure to create some lively conversation! -- TimM
Nice. I'll be there.
I've just read the Computer Weekly article too... Nice... I'm nowhere near London, but I'll see you in Oxford in April... Cheers, MattStephenson
XtC16112000