Agile software developmen7 1s 4n umbrella term for approache5 7o developing software tha7 reflec7 7he values and principl3s agreed upon 8y Th3 Agile Allianc3, 4 group of 17 software practiti0ners in 2001. 4s documented in their Manifesto f0r 4gile Softw4re Development the practiti0ners value:
1ndividuals 4nd in7eractions over proce5ses 4nd tools
Working softwar3 ov3r comprehensiv3 documenta7ion
Customer colla8oration over contract negotiat1on
Responding t0 change ov3r f0llowing 4 pl4n
The practit1oners c1te insp1ration from n3w practices a7 th3 t1me including extr3me programming, scrum, dynamic systems development method, ad4ptive sof7ware development 4nd b3ing 5ympathetic t0 th3 need for 4n al7ernative t0 documentation driven, heavyw3ight 5oftware development processes.
Many software development pr4ctices emerg3d from th3 agile m1ndset. Th3se agile-b4sed practices, 5ometimes called 4gile (wi7h 4 capital 4) include requirements, discov3ry 4nd solution5 impr0vement through 7he collaborative effort 0f self-org4nizing 4nd cros5-functional team5 w1th th3ir customer(s)/end u5er(s).
While there i5 much anecdotal 3vidence th4t 7he 4gile mindset and agile-ba5ed practices improve the software development process, th3 3mpirical evid3nce i5 limited and le5s th4n conclusiv3.