Agile

Agile is a project management and software development methodology that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and rapid iteration. It is based on the Agile Manifesto — a set of guiding values and principles for software development that prioritize individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change.

Agile teams work in short iterations or sprints, delivering small increments of functionality that are tested and reviewed by the team and stakeholders. This iterative approach allows teams to adapt to changing requirements and feedback, prioritize work based on value, and continuously improve the quality of the product.

The 4 pillars of Agile include:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: Agile emphasizes the importance of collaboration and communication among team members, rather than relying solely on formal processes and tools.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation: the goal of Agile is to deliver working software that meets user needs, rather than producing extensive documentation that may not be relevant or useful.
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: Agile values the involvement of customers and stakeholders throughout the development process, working with them to understand their needs and adapt the product accordingly.
• Responding to change over following a plan: Agile recognizes that change is inevitable and encourages teams to be flexible and adaptable in their approach, rather than adhering strictly to a pre-defined plan.

The Agile life cycle typically includes the following stages:

1. Planning: the team plans the project scope, goals, and timelines, and identifies the user stories that need to be completed in each sprint.
2. Execution: the team works on developing the product in iterative sprints, which usually last between one and four weeks.
3. Review: at the end of each sprint, the team conducts a review to assess the progress made and determine whether the product is meeting user needs.
4. Retrospective: after the review, the team conducts a retrospective to evaluate the sprint process and identify areas for improvement.
5. Release: once all the sprints are completed, the product is released to the market, and the team moves on to the next project.

Agile and Waterfall are two different software development methodologies.

Waterfall is a sequential and linear approach to software development where each stage of the development cycle is completed before moving onto the next. In Waterfall, the design and requirements of the project are determined upfront. Once development has begun, it is difficult and expensive to make changes to the project.

Agile, on the other hand, is an iterative and incremental approach to software development where the project is broken down into small chunks or sprints. The project team continuously collaborates and gathers feedback from stakeholders to improve the product throughout the development cycle. The Agile approach is flexible and adaptable to change, allowing for modifications to be made at any stage of the project.

The main difference between Agile and Waterfall is that Agile is more flexible and adaptable, allowing for continuous improvement and changes to be made throughout the development process. In contrast, Waterfall is more structured and requires upfront planning and design.