What are pitfalls for agile development methodologies?
From @Gortok’s quoted list, with my rebuttals… • Lack of structure and necessary documentation • Many agile methods are highly prescriptive of essential practices and have structure, though much of it is informal. • Define necessary. Much documentation required by plan-driven methods is not used and/or hopelessly out of date. Agility focuses on producing those deliverables that are actually needed. • Only works with senior-level developers • Works best with developers who can work independently (or in pairs). • A mix of senior/junior developers works just fine. • Incorporates insufficient software design • Incremental design with aggressive refactoring can lead to better design because much of the design is done with better understanding of the application. • A valid criticism might be that agile implementers may be afraid to do any design up front for fear of not being “agile” — none of the methodologists would recommend entirely skipping up front design. • Requires too much cultur
