Extreme Programming - Controversial Aspects

Controversial Aspects

The practices in XP have been heavily debated. Proponents of extreme programming claim that by having the on-site customer request changes informally, the process becomes flexible, and saves the cost of formal overhead. Critics of XP claim this can lead to costly rework and project scope creep beyond what was previously agreed or funded.

Change control boards are a sign that there are potential conflicts in project objectives and constraints between multiple users. XP's expedited methods is somewhat dependent on programmers being able to assume a unified client viewpoint so the programmer can concentrate on coding rather than documentation of compromise objectives and constraints. This also applies when multiple programming organizations are involved, particularly organizations which compete for shares of projects.

Other potentially controversial aspects of extreme programming include:

• Requirements are expressed as automated acceptance tests rather than specification documents.
• Requirements are defined incrementally, rather than trying to get them all in advance.
• Software developers are usually required to work in pairs.
• There is no Big Design Up Front. Most of the design activity takes place on the fly and incrementally, starting with "the simplest thing that could possibly work" and adding complexity only when it's required by failing tests. Critics compare this to "debugging a system into appearance" and fear this will result in more re-design effort than only re-designing when requirements change.
• A customer representative is attached to the project. This role can become a single-point-of-failure for the project, and some people have found it to be a source of stress. Also, there is the danger of micro-management by a non-technical representative trying to dictate the use of technical software features and architecture.
• Dependence upon all other aspects of XP: "XP is like a ring of poisonous snakes, daisy-chained together. All it takes is for one of them to wriggle loose, and you've got a very angry, poisonous snake heading your way."