#xpman 83 – XP Unconference
This month we will be having an XP unconference discussing XP themes. Been to Agile Manchester during the day and want to share what you’ve learnt? Got something interesting to talk about or lead a discussion on? Just want to come along and see what it’s all about? Join us at Code Computerlove’s office from 6.30pm to start at 7pm.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/xp-manchester-83-xp-unconference-tickets-34231281685
#xpman 82 – Wooly Root Causes
Retrospectives and continuous improvement is regarded as one of the most important aspects of an agile team. It’s unfortunately usually only given a superficial consideration by organisations.
This is a session looking at collaborative root cause analysis and learning as a group, illustrated with sheep.
As usual we’re at Madlab
Thursday 13th April, 6:30 for a 7pm start
Grab a ticket
#xpman 80 – XPManchester TDDs Sudoku #1
Some years back, Ron Jefferies set out to TDD Sudoku in a number of blog posts and failed to deliver a working solution.
This should be a cautionary tale to us – TDD on its own will not save you. How do you know if TDD is offering you little value to you in your real projects?
For the next few months (we’ll see how each session goes before we call it a day), XPManchester will solving Sudoko the TDD way. Our aim is to become mindful of when TDD breaks down and trying to identify warning signs and anti patterns associated with it.
As for format, we’ll be working as one or two groups, Randori style.
Spaces for this session are limited, so please grab a ticket beforehand.
18:30 for 19:00 start at Madlab
#xpman 79.5 – 6 thinking modes for getting you unstuck, with @SalFreudenberg
We have special, extra xpmanchester session this month, a talk from Dr Sallyann Freudenberg, who happens to be up in Manchester on the 16th of January.
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This talk is about “stuckness”. It all stemmed from a troubled team I was asked to visit a few years ago. They had great technical knowledge but some of them seemed to find solving problems tricky, and they rarely if ever thought about their own ways of thinking. As they never zoomed out to consider a change of approach, it took them a long time to come up with a solution. A really long time.
In this talk we will look at six different thinking modes that can help you to “go meta” on your problem solving. Once you know what they are you have a way of identifying your current approach and the option of picking a more suitable one for the problem you are working on.
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Please note that this is NOT on our regular day of the second Thursday, and it is NOT at Madlab!
You will need a ticket to get in
#xpman 79 – Naked CRC
This month we’ve got a practical session from Kevin Rutherford. We’re at MadLab from half 6 starting at 7.
Abstract
I have lost count of how many times I have seen a group of developers discuss a design problem, only for them to discover that they walked away with either a “solution” that just doesn’t hang together, or with different solutions in different people’s heads.
Naked CRC is a great technique for facilitating conversations about the domain, or existing code, and for discussing the impact of change. It helps alleviate the aforementioned problems by creating visual reference points that are surprisingly easy to understand and remember.
This hands-on workshop involves no programming. During the session the participants will explore each others’ designs using Naked CRC cards and simple, old-fashioned conversation. You will be shown how to use the cards to describe your own domain and your own code, and so you will leave with a new perspective on both.
Tickets available here.
#xpman 77 – An introduction to Smalltalk
This month we have a practical introduction to Smalltalk with Keith Braithwaite. Doors open at half 6 to start at 7.
The most widely recognised good technical practices of Agile development have their origins in eXtreme Programming. eXtreme Programming has its origins in Smalltalk development. It is my contention that the affordances of Smalltalk and its environment have informed the underlying ideas about what code is and how we should interact with it in Agile development. In this session you will experience the Smalltalk way of working with code. Hopefully, this will illuminate the assumptions behind the technical practices that Agile teams sometimes struggle with. This will be a practical session. Please come equipped to work with a fresh installation of Pharo 5.0 No prior experience of Smalltalk is required.
Tickets available here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/xpman-77-an-introduction-to-smalltalk-tickets-28943577018
