The AndPlus Software Development Blog

After the completion of a sprint, there are two Agile activities that occur - the sprint review and the sprint retrospective. In this post we'll be covering why the sprint review and why it is so important.

At first glance, a sprint review could be viewed as a show and tell for the developers to show off what they completed in the previous sprint. But, if you dig a little deeper, you find that it is one of the most important meetings in the agile process. A sprint review drives the incremental development of the entire product.

Test Driven Development is the idea that by writing the tests for software before the implementation of any executable code, we can ensure maximal test coverage and code quality. The following blog outlines the process of test driven development as a how-to/guide, as well as benefits to a test driven development process.

You have an important custom software project. Maybe it is a new mobile application. Or perhaps it's a web application for customers and employees. You have done the hard part. Researched potential vendors. Received input from others who have done this before. Solicited proposals and chosen your new software development partner. You are ready to go. And you want the project to start strongly and give you confidence that you made the right decision.

So what does a "good kickoff" feel like? At AndPlus, we have kicked off hundreds of custom software projects over the years. In our experience, there are 3 important things needed to have confidence in your project right from the start.

Agile is a collaborative approach to building custom software. Not only is collaboration important to the development team (with approaches like swarming and paired programming), it is also critical across all groups involved in the development process.

As businesses have continued to integrate mobile applications to improve core business functions, they have also begun to incorporate mobile applications for use behind the scenes, in the form of building automation applications. Today’s building automation systems have advanced far beyond the HVAC-centric systems of the past, handling such functions as lighting, security and safety. All of these functions can now be handled by facility and building managers using a mobile device such as an iPhone or Android handset.

Measuring success is the final critical step in implementing a mobile control application. There are often obvious metrics regarding efficiency improvements (often supported with time and motion studies) and corresponding cost improvements. Or perhaps inventory management or repair time metrics. However, there can be other important metrics. Budget for the project is critical. And that means having a clear understanding of when the project is “done.” The timeline of when users actually interact with the application.