Agile - Why It Matters

You hear the word Agile a lot when you start working for a company. It’s practically everywhere. If you’ve been in the industry for at least a year, this isn’t surprising. But for freshers stepping out of university and into their first job, it can feel a bit overwhelming.

Brief History

Before Agile methodologies took over, the Waterfall model was the go-to approach for software development. It had its merits, but also some serious shortcomings—which I’ll highlight shortly. But first, let’s appreciate what Waterfall did well.

The Waterfall Model

In this traditional software development model, projects followed a linear sequence of steps. Here’s a quick rundown:

✅ Pros of Waterfall:

• Clearly defined steps that are easy to follow—you move to the next phase only when the current one is complete.
• Defined goals and deadlines upfront, which can be beneficial (though not always practical).
• Strong emphasis on documentation, ensuring well-structured records of design decisions and project details.

❌ Cons of Waterfall:

• Works well for small projects with minimal unknowns, but struggles with complexity.
• Testing is pushed toward the end, making it hard to catch issues early.
• No room for customer intervention during development—what was planned is what gets built, whether it still makes sense or not.

Now that you have a bit of context on Waterfall, you can probably appreciate why Agile was such a game-changer.

Agile – A Better Approach

Agile methodologies emerged in the early 2000s, pioneered by a group of software engineers and computer scientists—many of whom you may have heard of, like Ward Cunningham (known for eXtreme Programming or XP), Martin Fowler, and Robert C. Martin.

These are the people who recognized the need for a more flexible and efficient way to develop software. If you’re serious about understanding Agile, I highly recommend checking out its core principles here:

Principles behind the Agile Manifesto

Core Idea of Agile

At its heart, Agile is about one thing: making customers happy.

And the best way to do that? Truly understanding what the customer wants—which, let’s be honest, even they might not fully know at the start. Agile solves this by allowing continuous customer feedback at any stage of development. This means the project can pivot slightly (or even drastically) from its original vision—but in the end, the product will align much better with real-world needs.

Agile in Action

If you look at Agile methodologies, you’ll notice they bear some resemblance to Waterfall. But here’s what sets Agile apart:

• Customer feedback is welcomed at every step. If necessary, the team can go back to the planning phase and adjust the design.
• Incremental improvements. Instead of tackling the entire system at once, Agile encourages breaking it down into small, manageable parts that can be refined over time.

Why Agile Matters

If you work in the software industry, understanding Agile isn’t optional—it’s essential. It’s not just a buzzword; it’s a way of building software that actually works.

I have much more to share on this topic, but I’ll save it for another post. Next time, I’ll dive into what Agile looks like in day-to-day work life—stay tuned! 🚀