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What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Agile Software Engineering?

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What are the advantages and disadvantages of Agile Software Engineering?

One mooted solution to project management issues is Agile Software Engineering. Agile software engineering was devised, in the early 1990's, as a counter to the then-prevalent preference for huge, carefully-planned and expertly orchestrated grand projects. As Alistair Cockburn has noted, "the 1990's saw some of the most bloated, over-organised attempts at problem-solving imaginable, whereas agile software engineering came in like a breath of fresh air and proclaimed that the era of the individual was back" (Cockburn, 2001). While the old system was believed to deliver nothing more than bureaucracy, inconsistency and ineffectiveness, agile software engineering was …show more content…

Also, agile software engineering sought to ensure the continued and rapid delivery of changes and new ideas would impress upon the customer that the engineers were able to react to constantly changing situations (Cockburn, 2001). Meanwhile, it was also considered important to allow for constant changes, including changes at the very last minute, just as the product was ready to be unveiled. Finally, it was felt that the process had become almost more important than the outcome, so agile software engineering favoured the production of working software, which it saw as the principal measure of progress (in terms of regular deliveries of beta versions), rather than long-term targets (Eckstein, 2004).

Ultimately, while agile software engineering certainly represented a challenge to the well-established waterfall method, it didn't entirely throw away every element of the old guard (Cockburn, 2001). The new concept was actually based on the idea that individuals could better govern themselves, and could more effectively use their creativity within an overall framework if they were given some freedom to interact on a day-to-day level, facing problem-solving within the

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