Robert C. Martin

Shows how to bring unprecedented levels of professionalism and discipline to agile development - and thereby write far more effective, successful software

Back to Basics

Clean Agile

Madhuri jain

The book is written in a very simple language and clarifies several wrong beliefs about agile but last two chapters i found were not much important for this book. Also it is very expensive compared to the content it has provided.

Julien Sobczak

Rediscover Agile from its inception.

I was really excited about the publication of Clean Agile but the book left me somewhat disappointed. It’s an interesting book, but it could have been far more impactful. 

On a positive note, the author is widely recognized in the software landscape, having contributed to the Agile movement right from the start, and having interacted with its most famous actors. Bob Martin is very well placed to take us back to the roots of agility, at the time when this word still made sense.

“Agile is a small idea about the small problem of small programming teams doing small things” says the author. But Agile has grown up where it probably shouldn't have. Lean, Kanban, LeSS, SAFe were added to the mixture, and the result is far from being a magical potion. But as surprising as it may seem, the current Agile is hard to challenge. Agile has stopped being agile. Experimenting with current practices is seen as not being agile. We need clarifications and I found in this book a good aid in this direction.

Bob Martin does a wonderful job to relate the history and context behind the nascent of the Agile Manifesto. We review some key parts that have clearly been ignored by most of us. We relearn the basics to see the forest for the trees again. But may the book change the obscure vision and the wrong beliefs commonly encountered in the workplace? I don’t know. I doubt it. The people that would read the book will probably be the ones who are the most familiar with the subject. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope so.

On the negative side, I found the book lost its soul as it progressed. The author included a few external contributions which strongly depart from the author’s engaging style. The Agile coaching contribution is too verbose and the craftsmanship chapter by Sandro Mancuso, while pretty good, feels like a new start in the book, and not the continuity. 

In addition, the book misses guidances on how to transition from where we are now, to finally go where we could have been, how to manage conversations to challenge the actual practices, and how enterprises can get out of the hole that cost them so much to dig. You will not find answers to these questions in this book. 

In the end, the book is still a valuable contribution. Agile has shifted where many developers, including me, don't feel at ease. Agile slowly became a useless word, as we can no longer expect anything from it. This book is one small step for the reader, but certainly not one giant leap for agility.

Cristi Marian

Agile Values and Principles for a New Generation “In the journey to all things Agile, Uncle Bob has been there, done that, and has the both the t-shirt and the scars to show for it. This delightful book is part history, part personal stories, and all wisdom. If you want to understand what Agile is and how it came to be, this is the book for you.” –Grady Booch “Bob’s frustration colors every sentence of Clean Agile, but it’s a justified frustration. What is in the world of Agile development is nothing compared to what could be. This book is Bob’s perspective on what to focus on to get to that ‘what could be.’ And he’s been there, so it’s worth listening.” –Kent Beck “It’s good to read Uncle Bob’s take on Agile. Whether just beginning, or a seasoned Agilista, you would do well to read this book. I agree with almost all of it. It’s just some of the parts make me realize my own shortcomings, dammit. It made me double-check our code coverage (85.09%).” –Jon Kern Nearly twenty years after the Agile Manifesto was first presented, the legendary Robert C. Martin (“Uncle Bob”) reintroduces Agile values and principles for a new generation–programmers and nonprogrammers alike. Martin, author of Clean Code and other highly influential software development guides, was there at Agile’s founding. Now, in Clean Agile: Back to Basics, he strips away misunderstandings and distractions that over the years have made it harder to use Agile than was originally intended. Martin describes what Agile is in no uncertain terms: a small discipline that helps small teams manage small projects . . . with huge implications because every big project is comprised of many small projects. Drawing on his fifty years’ experience with projects of every conceivable type, he shows how Agile can help you bring true professionalism to software development. Get back to the basics–what Agile is, was, and should always be Understand the origins, and proper practice, of SCRUM Master essential business-facing Agile practices, from small releases and acceptance tests to whole-team communication Explore Agile team members’ relationships with each other, and with their product Rediscover indispensable Agile technical practices: TDD, refactoring, simple design, and pair programming Understand the central roles values and craftsmanship play in your Agile team’s success If you want Agile’s true benefits, there are no shortcuts: You need to do Agile right. Clean Agile: Back to Basics will show you how, whether you’re a developer, tester, manager, project manager, or customer. Register your book for convenient access to downloads, updates, and/or corrections as they become available. See inside book for details.

Clean Agile Back to Basics

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