Agile Software Development

On February 2001 a group of high profile engineers got together and started discussing different Extreme Programming (XP) methodologies, they came up with a new term for all light-weight process methodologies called "Agile" Agile has a manifesto. As it name implies, it is a set of 12 simple rules that each process must pursue to be effective The highlights of Agile

• "The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. ": People are more important than processes or tools, as a result we have to see each person as a groups of peers rather than manager/developer hierarchies. Each person will be important as much as he/she wants to be important (It is unfortunate though!)
• “Working software is the primary measure of progress”: There is a greater emphasis on working code rather than documentation; it is a good practice to have documentation unless it threatens productivity as a result it is good to invest on automated documentation.
• "Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.": Being agile and responsive and dynamic is more important than following a plan. Customers are more important than the contracts and plans