Agile methodology

Agile methodology Agile methodology is an approach to project management, typically used in software development. It refers to a group of software development methodologies based on iterative development. Requirements and solutions evolve through cooperation between self-organizing cross-functional teams, without concern for any hierarchy or team member roles. It promotes teamwork, collaboration, and process adaptability throughout the project life-cycle with increased face-to-face communication and reduced amount of written documentation. Agile methods break tasks into small increments with no direct long term planning. Every aspect of development is continually revisited throughout the lifecycle of project by way of iterations (also called sprints). Iterations are short time frames (timeboxes) that normally last 1-4 weeks. This inspect-and-adapt approach significantly reduces both development costs and time to market. Each iteration involves working through a complete software development cycle characterized by planning, requirements analysis, design, coding, unit testing, and acceptance testing. This helps minimize overall risk, and quicker project adaptability. While iteration may not have enough functionality necessary for a market release, aim is to be ready with a release (with minimal bugs) at the end of each iteration. Typically, the team size is small (5-9 people) to enable easier communication and collaboration. Multiple teams may be required for larger developmental efforts which may also require a coordination of priorities across teams. Agile methods emphasize more face-to-face communication than written documents when the team is in the same location. However, when a team works at different locations, daily contact is maintained through videoconferencing, e-mail, etc. The progress made in terms of the work done today, work scheduled for tomorrow and the possible roadblocks are discussed among the team members in brief sessions at the end of the each working day. Besides, agile developmental efforts are supervised by a customer representative to ensure alignment between customer needs and company goals. Software Development was initially based on coding and fixing. That worked well for smaller software, but as the size and complexities of software grew a need for a proper process was felt because the debugging and testing of such software became extremely difficult. This gave birth to the Engineering Methodologies. The methodologies became highly successful since it structured the software development process. One of the most popular models that emerged was the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) that developed information systems in a very methodical manner. Waterfall method is one of the most popular examples of Engineering or the SDLC methodology. A paper published by Winston Royce in 1970 introduced it as an idea. It was derived from the hardware manufacture and construction strategies that were in practice during the 1970s. The relationship of each stage to the others can be roughly described as a waterfall, where the outputs from a specific stage serve as the initial inputs for the following stage. During each stage, additional information is gathered or developed, combined with the inputs, and used to produce the stage deliverables. It is important to note that the additional information is restricted in scope; new ideas that would take the project in directions not anticipated by the initial set of high-level requirements are not incorporated into the project. Rather, ideas for new capabilities or features that are out-of-scope are preserved for later consideration. Agile Methodology: Engineering methodologies required a lot of documentation thereby causing the pace of development to slow down considerably. Agile Methodologies evolved in the 1990s to significantly eliminate this bureaucratic nature of engineering methodology. It was part of developers reaction against heavyweight methods, who desired to drift away from traditional structured, bureaucratic approaches to software development and move towards more flexible development styles. They were called the Agile or Light Weight methods and were defined in 1974 by Edmonds in a research paper. Some of the most popular agile methods that subsequently evolved were Scrum in 1995, Extreme Programming in 1996, Adaptive Software Development, Dynamic Systems Development Method and Feature Driven Development. In 2001, a team of 17 pioneers in agile software development coined the terms Agile Software development and agile methods. An Agile Manifesto was declared that was regarded as a set of canonical rules for agile software development methods and accompanying principles. Similarly, some of these people formed The Agile Alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes agile development. Extreme Programming: One of the several popular agile processes which stresses on customer satisfaction is Extreme programming. It improves a software project by focusing on communication, feedback, simplicity, courage and respect. Empowerment of the developers ensures speedier responses to changing customer requirements. Teamwork and collaboration is an integral part of extreme programming that improves the productivity and efficiency of the problem solving approach. Comparing Agile With Waterfall Model; Agile methodology can be compared and contrasted with traditional Waterfall model under the following heads. Conceptual Difference: Sequential Vs Iterative: Waterfall method is a sequential process of software development. Similar to a waterfall, the development team in such a model proceeds to the next stage of development once the first step is entirely accomplished. The waterfall model phases of software development are: requirement specification, conception, analysis, design, coding, testing debugging, installation and finally maintenance. A good amount of time is spent in each stage of development, till all requirements are met. Compared to this set-in-stone approach of waterfall models, the agile models focus on adaptability and agility during development. As an alternative to one rigid development schedule, agile models involve multiple iterative development schedules. Each iteration goes through the entire steps of design, coding and testing. A closely-knit, cross functional and self-organizing team structure exists. Documentation: Substantial Vs Minimal: While emphasis is placed on documentation at every stage of software development in a waterfall model, agile methodology emphasizes increased face-to-face communication and reduced documentation. Suitability: Predictive Vs Adaptive: While waterfall model is suitable for development of stable programs, agile methodology is best suited for web based applications because of its iterative nature that helps in incorporating correcting the different bugs that arise over time. Nature: Process oriented Vs People oriented: Waterfall Methodology is Process-oriented as it focuses on pre-planning of processes in great detail and subsequently coming up with a defined overall process to be used by whosoever uses it. Agile Methodologies on the other hand are People-oriented as they believe process definition is not an independent thing and the development of software relies heavily on the skills of the development team rather than on defined processes. Agile Methodologies use processes only to support the development team in doing their work more effectively and efficiently. Process never takes a lead in agile methodologies. Efficiency: Low Vs High: Efficiency is determined by the quality of software product, the lead development time and the number of bugs. Due to the adaptability of agile methods and the rigid development cycle of waterfall model, agile methods can incorporate changes and release products in lesser time. http://www.extremeprogramming.org/. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/waterfall-model-vs-agile.html.

Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind Essay -- Young Goo

Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind " 'Lo! there ye stand, my children,' said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. 'Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!' " This particular quote has the mark of cynicism that although may not be common in our time for writing, was probably a very common writing style during certain times in the history of American Literature. This of course would depend on the dominating religious culture of the time. Since Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings were created briefly after the times of the Salem Witch Trials, since one of his ancestors was a judge at the trials, it would be apparent to most that the religious overtones were ones of the righteousness and damnation (Norton Anthol ogy, p. 547). Their inherant belief, which was very much portrayed in the story, was in predestination. This meant that they believed that all the chosen ones were selected before birth by God, and no matter what their actions were, they were saved. Everyone else apparently went to hell. They believed that one could tell who a chosen one was by their deeds and action of goodness and kindness. However, one should still try to be as good as they possibly could even if they weren't one of the chosen because God might have mercy on them and save them anyway for being so good. So the concensus during this particular time was that those that were righteous were chosen and that everyone in ... ...d refers to a group of people sharing something in common, but given the context of the story, we can't ignore the biblical connotations of communion. Therefore we are justified in pointing out these various definitions of communion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates his skill at combining many meanings and implications about the pervasive evil nature of man in the story Young Goodman Brown. This statement can be argued by observing both his literal and symbolic meanings. "Evil is the nature of mankind." This is the epitome of the story from Satan's taking the persona of a religious leader to the people viewing him as one. The story can be read at many different levels from the shallow reader to the very indepth reader. However, behind every level is the underlying theme that evil is the nature of mankind. Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind Essay -- Young Goo Young Goodman Brown: Evil is the Nature of Mankind " 'Lo! there ye stand, my children,' said the figure, in a deep and solemn tone, almost sad, with its despairing awfulness, as if his once angelic nature could yet mourn for our miserable race. 'Depending upon one another's hearts, ye had still hoped, that virtue were not all a dream. Now are undeceived! Evil is the nature of mankind. Evil must be your only happiness. Welcome, again, my children, to the communion of your race!' " This particular quote has the mark of cynicism that although may not be common in our time for writing, was probably a very common writing style during certain times in the history of American Literature. This of course would depend on the dominating religious culture of the time. Since Nathaniel Hawthorne's writings were created briefly after the times of the Salem Witch Trials, since one of his ancestors was a judge at the trials, it would be apparent to most that the religious overtones were ones of the righteousness and damnation (Norton Anthol ogy, p. 547). Their inherant belief, which was very much portrayed in the story, was in predestination. This meant that they believed that all the chosen ones were selected before birth by God, and no matter what their actions were, they were saved. Everyone else apparently went to hell. They believed that one could tell who a chosen one was by their deeds and action of goodness and kindness. However, one should still try to be as good as they possibly could even if they weren't one of the chosen because God might have mercy on them and save them anyway for being so good. So the concensus during this particular time was that those that were righteous were chosen and that everyone in ... ...d refers to a group of people sharing something in common, but given the context of the story, we can't ignore the biblical connotations of communion. Therefore we are justified in pointing out these various definitions of communion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously Nathaniel Hawthorne demonstrates his skill at combining many meanings and implications about the pervasive evil nature of man in the story Young Goodman Brown. This statement can be argued by observing both his literal and symbolic meanings. "Evil is the nature of mankind." This is the epitome of the story from Satan's taking the persona of a religious leader to the people viewing him as one. The story can be read at many different levels from the shallow reader to the very indepth reader. However, behind every level is the underlying theme that evil is the nature of mankind.

Colour Blindness

Colour blindness is a very well known deficiency that affects approximately 8% of the population worldwide (Fluck 2006). People who are colour blind are not technically blind, they have a decreased ability to identify colours and in the most extreme cases, not able to see colours at all. The technical term for being colour blind is achromatopsia which means the inability to see any colours at all. However, most people are only colour deficient and not fully color blind therefore they can be classified as monochromatic, which means the ability to see one colour, or dichromatic, the ability to see two colours.Colour blindness is a congenital and permanent mutation of the X chromosome, which is passed on to an offspring by the mother. The most typical case of this deficiency originates from a fault in the development of sets of retinal cones that perceive colour in light and transmit that information to the optic nerve. Men are more likely to have a form of colour blindness due to the f act that the only have a single X chromosome compared to women who have two. For a woman to become colour blind both of her X chromosomes must be mutated compared to only one for a man.At first glance one would think that being colour blind would have no evolutionary advantages at all, however, that is not the case. US Military studies have shown that soldiers who are colour blind are much better at distinguishing camouflage compared to soldiers without the deficiency (Boring 1945). Even with this skill, most people would consider being colour blind to be a disadvantage on everyday life. Boring, Edwin G. (ed. ) Psychology for the Armed Services Washington: The National Research Council – The Infantry Journal, 1945. http://www. straightdope. com/columns/read/3037/is-colorblindness-an-evolutionary-advantage

What You Can Learn From the FHLC

The Family History Library Catalog, the gem of the Family History Library, describes over 2 million rolls of microfilm and hundreds of thousands of books and maps. It does not contain the actual records, however, only descriptions of them - but is an important step in the digital genealogy process for learning about what records might be available for your area of interest. The records described in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) come from throughout the world. This catalog is also available on CD and microfiche at the Family History Library and at local Family History Centers, but to have it available for searching online is of amazing benefit. You can do much of your research from home at whatever time is convenient and, therefore, maximize your research time at your local Family History Center (FHC). To access the online version of the Family History Library Catalog go to the Familysearch homepage (www.familysearch.org) and select Library Catalog from the Library navigation tab at the top of the page. Here you are presented with the following options: Place Search - Use this option to find catalog entries about a place or for records from a place.Surname Search - Use this option to find catalog entries about records that include a specific surname, such as written family histories.Keyword Search - Use this option to find catalog entries about records that contain a certain word or phrase. You can use this to search for keywords in titles, authors, places, series, and subjects.Title Search - Use this option to find catalog entries about records that contain a certain word or combination of words in the title.Film/Fiche Search - Use a Film/Fiche Search to find the titles of items on a specific microfilm or microfiche in the Family History Library Catalog.Author Search - Use an Author Search to find the Author Details record for a person, church, society, government agency, and so forth identified as an author of a specific reference. The Author Details record lists titles linked to the author and may include notes and references.Cal l Number Search - Use a Call Number Search to find an item by its call number (the number used to locate items on the shelves in the Family History Library or the FamilySearch Center). Lets start with the place search, as this is the one that we find the most useful. The place search screen contains two boxes: PlacePart of (optional) In the first box, type the place you want to find entries for. We  would suggest that you start your search with a very specific place name, such as a city, town or county. The Family History Library contains a huge amount of information and if you search on something broad (such as a country) you will end up with too many results to wade through. The second field is optional. Since many places have the same names, you can limit your search by adding a jurisdiction (a larger geographic area that includes your search location) of the place you want to find. For example, you can add the state name in the second box after entering a county name in the first box. If you do not know the name of the jurisdiction, then just search on the location name itself. The catalog will return a list of all jurisdictions which contain that particular place name and you can then select the one which best meets your expectations. Place Search Tips Keep in mind while searching, that the names of the countries in the FHL catalog are in English, but the names of the states, provinces, regions, cities, towns and other jurisdictions are in the language of the country in which they are located. Place Search will only find the information if it is part of the place-name. For example, if we  searched for North Carolina in the above example, our results list would show places named North Carolina (there is only one - the U.S. State of N.C.), but it would not list places in North Carolina. To see places that are part of North Carolina, select View Related Places. The next screen would display all counties in North Carolina. To see the towns in one of the counties, you would click on the county, then click View Related Places again. The more specific you make your search, the shorter your lists of results will be. If you have trouble finding a specific location, dont just conclude that the catalog does not have records for that place. There are many reasons why you may be having difficulties. Before you give up your search, be sure to try the following strategies: Be sure you typed the place-name correctly.If you qualified your search with another jurisdiction, try the search again without this qualification.Search for records using a larger jurisdiction. For example, if you cannot find records for a town, search for county records. Once you locate the place for which you are looking, you will be presented with a list of places. If you qualified your search with another jurisdiction, the list should be short. If you did not qualify your search, the list may be long. If the list shows the place you want, click on the place-name to see the Place Details record. This records usually contain the following items: View Related Places  - Clicking on this button will give you a list of other places you might be interested in.Notes  - A few historical facts and details about the placeTopics  - A list of topics for which records are available that relate to the place that you are looking for. This list might include such topics as: biographies, cemeteries, census records, church records, guardianship records, history, land and property records, maps, military history, tax records, vital records, voting records, etc. To best explain what is available in the Family History Library Catalog, it is easiest to take you step-by-step through a search. Begin by doing a  place search  for Edgecombe. The only result will be for Edgecombe County, North Carolina - so next select this option. From the list of available topics for Edgecombe County, North Carolina, we are  first going to select Bible Records, as this is the first source which the Catalog Helper suggested for information on our great, great grandmothers maiden name. The next screen which comes up lists the titles and authors available for the topic which we selected. In our case, there is only one Bible Record entry listed. Topic: North Carolina, Edgecombe - Bible recordsTitles:  Bible records of early Edgecombe Williams, Ruth Smith Click on one of your result titles to learn more information. Now you are given the complete catalog entry of the title you selected. [blockquote shadeyes]Title:  Bible records of early EdgecombeStmnt.Resp.:  by Ruth Smith Williams and Margarette Glenn GriffinAuthors:  Williams, Ruth Smith (Main Author) Griffin, Margarette Glenn (Added Author)Notes:  Includes index.Subjects:  North Carolina, Edgecombe - Vital records North Carolina, Edgecombe - Bible recordsFormat:  Books/Monographs (On Fiche)Language:  EnglishPublication:  Salt Lake City: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1992Physical:  5 microfiche reels; 11 x 15 cm. If this title has been microfilmed, the View Film Notes button appears. Click on it to see a description of the microfilm(s) or microfiche and to obtain microfilm or microfiche numbers for ordering the film through your local Family History Center. Most items can be ordered for viewing at your local Family History Center, though a few cannot due to licensing regulations. Before ordering microfilms or microfiche, please check the Notes field for your title. Any restrictions on the use of the item will be mentioned there. [blockquote shadeyes]  Title:  Bible records of early EdgecombeAuthors:  Williams, Ruth Smith (Main Author) Griffin, Margarette Glenn (Added Author)Note:  Bible records of early EdgecombeLocation:  Film FHL US/CAN Fiche 6100369 Congratulations! Youve found it. The FHL US/CAN Fiche number in the lower right-hand corner is the number which you will need to order this film from your local family history center. Place search is probably the most useful search for the FHLC, as the librarys collection is primarily organized by location. There are several other search options open to you, however. Each of these searches has a specific purpose for which it is very useful. The searches do not allow wildcard characters (*), but do allow you to type in only part of a search term (i.e. Cri for Crisp): Surname Search A surname search is primarily used to find published family histories. It will not find surnames listed in individual microfilm records such as census records. A surname search will provide you with a list of titles of catalog entries tied to surnames that match your search and the main author for each title. Some of the published family histories are only available in book form and have not been microfilmed. Books listed in the Family History Library Catalog cannot be sent to Family History Centers. You can request that a book is microfilmed, however (ask a staff member at your FHC for help), but this may take several months if the library has to obtain copyright permission to do so. It may be faster to try to obtain the book elsewhere, such as a public library or from the publisher. Author Search This search is primarily used to find catalog entries by or about a certain person, organization, church, etc. The author search finds records which include the name you typed as the author or the subject, so it is especially useful for finding biographies and autobiographies. If you are looking for a person, type the surname in the Surname or Corporate Name box. Unless you have a very rare surname, we would also type all or part of the first name in the First Name box to help limit your search. If you are looking for an organization, type all or part of the name into the Surname or Corporate box. Film/Fiche Search Use this search to find the titles of items on a specific microfilm or microfiche. It is a very exact search and will only return the titles on the particular microfilm or microfiche number that you input. The results will include an item summary and the author for each item on the microfilm. The Film Notes may contain a more detailed description of what is on the microfilm or microfiche. To view this additional information, select the title and then click on View Film Notes. Film/Fiche search is especially useful for finding the records available on a film/fiche which is listed as a reference in Ancestral File or the IGI. We also use the film/fiche search to look for additional background on any film we plan to order because sometimes the film/fiche search will include references to other relevant microfilm numbers. Call Number Search Use this search if you know the call number of a book or other printed source (maps, periodicals, etc.) and want to learn more about what records it contains. On a book’s label, call numbers are usually printed on two or more lines. To include both lines of the call number in your search, type in the information from the top line, then a space, and then the information from the bottom line. Unlike other searches, this one is case-sensitive, so be sure to type in upper and lower case letters where appropriate. Call number search is probably the least used of all of the searches, but can still be very useful in cases where people list an item and its call number as a reference source without any indication to the information which it contains. The online Family History Library Catalog is a window to the two million plus records (print and microfilm) which the Family History Library maintains in its collection. For those of us around the world who cant easily make it to Salt Lake City, UT, it is absolutely invaluable both as an avenue for research and as a learning tool. Practice using the different searches and play around with different techniques and you may find yourself amazed at the things you find.