Overview and Goals The agile approach for software development has been applied more and more extensively since the mid nineties of the 20th century. Though there are only about ten years of accumulated experience using the agile approach, it is currently conceived as one of the mainstream approaches for software development. This book presents a complete software engineering course from the agile angle. Our intention is to present the agile approach in a holistic and compreh- sive learning environment that fits both industry and academia and inspires the spirit of agile software development. Agile software engineering is reviewed in this book through the following three perspectives: l The Human perspective, which includes cognitive and social aspects, and refers to learning and interpersonal processes between teammates, customers, and management. l The Organizational perspective, which includes managerial and cultural aspects, and refers to software project management and control. lThe Technological perspective, which includes practical and technical aspects, and refers to design, testing, and coding, as well as to integration, delivery, and maintenance of software products. Specifically, we explain and analyze how the explicit attention that agile software development gives these perspectives and their interconnections, helps viii Preface it cope with the challenges of software projects. This multifaceted perspective on software development processes is reflected in this book, among other ways, by the chapter titles, which specify dimensions of software development projects such as quality, time, abstraction, and management, rather than specific project stages, phases, or practices.

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