by Cornel Simons

Agile is a set of principles and values that can guide software development. When applied properly, agile brings great advantages to your software teams. The core values of agile are flexibility; working together as a team; and fast delivery of working product increments that add real value. The agile approach offers a working method for a dynamic and adaptive work-environment where teams can easily adjust themselves to changing circumstances and business demands.

The core principles of agile

Agile is a movement that originated out of the agile manifesto, a set of values written down by seventeen agile thinkers in 2001. The four values of agile software development are:

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools: agile puts the emphasis on human communication and cooperation, trying to minimize the number of bureaucratic processes.
• Working software over comprehensive documentation: the delivery of working software is the measure of success and progress in agile. This takes priority over documentation.
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation: close collaboration with the customer and other stakeholders will improve the understanding of requirements and vision.
• Responding to change over following a plan: the ability to react to change and new insights in a flexible way is much more important than sticking to a predetermined plan.

From these four values, twelve agile principles were derived that guide software development teams in their search for better, more flexible, and more successful ways of developing software. The twelve principles can be consulted on the page of the agile manifesto: https://agilemanifesto.org/principles.html

Advantages of agile software development

Agile software development offers several advantages:

• Faster delivery of working software: by working in iterative increments, a software team can deliver working software on a regular basis. This will also result in faster feedback that will result in adjustments more quickly.
• Improved collaboration: agile emphasizes communication and collaboration inside and outside the team. This leads to better solutions and higher quality.
• Greater flexibility: the ability to react fast to change and new insights guarantees that the end-product will be a better fit for the needs of the customer.
• Increased customer satisfaction: agile promotes close cooperation with the customer and regular delivery of working software. This involvement of the customer leads to a higher satisfaction of the end-product.

Challenges of agile

Agile software development offers many advantages, even though it also comes with challenges. Here we list a few:

• Change your mindset: Agile software development demands a change in culture and the way you think about team and organisation.
• Team dynamics: the success of agile implementations is dependent on the dynamics and cooperation with and within your team.
• Involvement of stakeholders: regular cooperation and communication is needed for effectively establishing

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