How does XP compare to traditional software methods like the SEIs PSP or Rationals RUP?
Kent: I think the SEI is firmly in the modernist camp, trying to reduce software engineering to something numerical, predictable, and machine-like. XP is distinctly post-modern. It’s philosophical roots are in complex systems theory. In XP, we are looking to create the “ilities” as emergent properties of the whole team acting according a set of simple rules, not through centralized control. In business terms, this results in a team that’s robust, because no one person is a bottleneck, and yet can go fast when the way forward is clear. Martin: RUP is designed to accommodate almost anything. I’ve seen old-fashioned high-ceremony waterfall fit into RUP, and XP fit into RUP. Indeed, my objection to RUP is that it’s too vague. You can easily cast XP as an instance of RUP if you need to. Bob Martin’s put together an instance of RUP which is pretty much XP; he calls it dX (turn your monitor upside down to see the joke.) Question: How does planning fit in with other XP tenets? Martin: It’s a k
