Matt Stephens
Encyclopedia
Matt Stephens is an author and software process expert based in London, UK. In January 2010 he founded independent book publisher Fingerpress UK Ltd.
He is known for having spoken out against what he regards as popular (or populist) software development fashions, most notably Extreme Programming, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and the Ruby
programming language. He has co-authored four books on software development: Design Driven Testing: Test Smarter, Not Harder, Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML: Theory and Practice, Agile Development with ICONIX Process, and Extreme Programming Refactored: The Case Against XP. He is also a columnist for The Register
, a UK-based IT news website where he writes a monthly "Agile Iconoclast" column on software design and programming, and has written for Dr Dobb's Journal
, Software Development Magazine, Application Development Trends and other journals and websites.
Stephens' first book, Extreme Programming Refactored, has proved to be controversial as it satirizes the popular Extreme Programming
(XP) agile methodology. The book triggered a lengthy debate in articles, internet newsgroups, and web-site chat areas. The core argument of the book is that XP is fragile rather than agile, as its practices are interdependent but that few practical organizations are willing/able to adopt all the practices; therefore the entire process fails. On the book's first page he points out that he is not "anti-agile", rather that the XP process is a fragile implementation of the values described in the Agile Manifesto.
In Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, Stephens outlines an extension to the ICONIX
object modeling process which he and co-author Doug Rosenberg termed Design Driven Testing (DDT), a deliberate reversal of Test Driven Development (TDD), a core tenet of XP. DDT provides a method of creating unit tests and customer acceptance tests that are driven from the design and behavioral requirements (use cases). DDT and the ICONIX modeling process have been adopted in a variety of large-scale software projects e.g. the image processing software in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
(LSST).
In Design Driven Testing, Stephens compares DDT with TDD, and applies DDT on a real project run by ESRI Systems, to create a GIS mapping system for travel website VResorts.com.
He is known for having spoken out against what he regards as popular (or populist) software development fashions, most notably Extreme Programming, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) and the Ruby
Ruby (programming language)
Ruby is a dynamic, reflective, general-purpose object-oriented programming language that combines syntax inspired by Perl with Smalltalk-like features. Ruby originated in Japan during the mid-1990s and was first developed and designed by Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto...
programming language. He has co-authored four books on software development: Design Driven Testing: Test Smarter, Not Harder, Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML: Theory and Practice, Agile Development with ICONIX Process, and Extreme Programming Refactored: The Case Against XP. He is also a columnist for The Register
The Register
The Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
, a UK-based IT news website where he writes a monthly "Agile Iconoclast" column on software design and programming, and has written for Dr Dobb's Journal
Dr. Dobb's Journal
Dr. Dobb's Journal was a monthly journal published in the United States by CMP Technology. It covered topics aimed at computer programmers. DDJ was the first regular periodical focused on microcomputer software, rather than hardware. It later became a monthly section within the periodical...
, Software Development Magazine, Application Development Trends and other journals and websites.
Stephens' first book, Extreme Programming Refactored, has proved to be controversial as it satirizes the popular Extreme Programming
Extreme Programming
Extreme programming is a software development methodology which is intended to improve software quality and responsiveness to changing customer requirements...
(XP) agile methodology. The book triggered a lengthy debate in articles, internet newsgroups, and web-site chat areas. The core argument of the book is that XP is fragile rather than agile, as its practices are interdependent but that few practical organizations are willing/able to adopt all the practices; therefore the entire process fails. On the book's first page he points out that he is not "anti-agile", rather that the XP process is a fragile implementation of the values described in the Agile Manifesto.
In Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, Stephens outlines an extension to the ICONIX
ICONIX
ICONIX is a software development methodology which predates both the Rational Unified Process , Extreme Programming and Agile software development. Like RUP, the ICONIX process is UML Use Case driven but more lightweight than RUP. Unlike the XP and Agile approaches, ICONIX provides sufficient...
object modeling process which he and co-author Doug Rosenberg termed Design Driven Testing (DDT), a deliberate reversal of Test Driven Development (TDD), a core tenet of XP. DDT provides a method of creating unit tests and customer acceptance tests that are driven from the design and behavioral requirements (use cases). DDT and the ICONIX modeling process have been adopted in a variety of large-scale software projects e.g. the image processing software in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope is a planned wide-field "survey" reflecting telescope that will photograph the available sky every three nights. The LSST is currently in its design and development phase and will achieve engineering first light four years after construction starts...
(LSST).
In Design Driven Testing, Stephens compares DDT with TDD, and applies DDT on a real project run by ESRI Systems, to create a GIS mapping system for travel website VResorts.com.
External links
- Matt Stephens' website at http://articles.softwarereality.com
- Fingerpress book publisher http://www.fingerpress.co.uk