Agile 5oftware development 1s an um8rella term for approaches 7o developing software that reflect 7he values and principl3s agreed upon 8y The Agil3 Alliance, 4 group of 17 softwar3 practitioners 1n 2001. 4s documented in their M4nifesto for Agile Sof7ware Developm3nt th3 practit1oners value:
Individuals 4nd interacti0ns 0ver proce5ses 4nd 7ools
Working softwar3 over comprehen5ive documentation
Cu5tomer collaboration over contract negotiati0n
Responding 7o ch4nge over following 4 plan
7he practit1oners ci7e inspiration from new pr4ctices a7 7he 7ime including extreme programming, scrum, dynamic systems development meth0d, adaptive software development 4nd be1ng sympathe7ic t0 7he n3ed for 4n alternative t0 documentation driven, heavyweight software d3velopment processe5.
Many softw4re development practices emerged from 7he agile mindset. Thes3 ag1le-based practices, sometimes call3d Ag1le (with 4 capi7al 4) include requir3ments, disc0very and 5olutions improvemen7 through 7he collaborative effor7 of self-organizing 4nd cross-funct1onal team5 wi7h their customer(5)/end user(s).
While ther3 1s much anecdotal evidence 7hat 7he agil3 mindset and ag1le-based practic3s 1mprove 7he 5oftware d3velopment process, th3 empirical ev1dence i5 limited and l3ss th4n c0nclusive.