Comparing Agile XP and Waterfall Software Development Processes in two Start-up Companies Master of Science Thesis in the Programme Software Engineering and Technology JENNIFER DORETTE J. Chalmers University of Technology Department of Computer Science and Engineering Göteborg, Sweden, November 2011 The Author grants to Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg the non-exclusive right to publish the Work electronically and in a non-commercial purpose make it accessible on the Internet. The Author warrants that he/she is the author to the Work, and warrants that the Work does not contain text, pictures or other material that violates copyright law. The Author shall, when transferring the rights of the Work to a third party (for example a publisher or a company), acknowledge the third party about this agreement. If the Author has signed a copyright agreement with a third party regarding the Work, the Author warrants hereby that he/she has obtained any necessary permission from this third party to let Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg store the Work electronically and make it accessible on the Internet. Comparing Agile XP and Waterfall software development processes in two Start-up companies JENNIFER DORETTE JACOB © Jennifer Dorette Jacob, November 2011. Supervisor: WOLMET BARENDREGT Examiner: MIROSLAW STARON Chalmers University of Technology Department of Computer Science and Engineering SE-412 96 Göteborg Sweden Telephone + 46 (0)31-772 1000 Department of Computer Science and Engineering Göteborg, Sweden November 2011 COMPARING AGILE XP AND WATERFALL SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES IN TWO START-UP COMPANIES ABSTRACT The work done is an attempt to investigate a suitable software development process to be followed in a fluid entrepreneurial environment. To achieve this goal, the study is conducted in the form of two different case studies where existing software development processes namely the waterfall model and agile XP are applied in two different startup organizations with similar backgrounds. The result of the work is that the two software development processes are engineered to be suitable for applying in different entrepreneurial setups, one in the presence of a client and another without communication with the client. From the results obtained in the study the author concludes the agile software development processes to be more suitable to be applied in a startup company taking into account important factors such as knowledge sharing and communication within the team. Keywords: Startup Organization, Waterfall Model, Agile XP Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Problem Statement .......................................................................................................1 1.2. Research Question ........................................................................................................1 1.3. Purpose ........................................................................................................................1 1.4. Disposition ...................................................................................................................2 2. Method ................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Research Methodology .................................................................................................3 2.1.1. Sample Selection ...................................................................................................4 2.1.2. Validity..................................................................................................................5 2.2. Structure of the Project .................................................................................................6 3. State-of-the-Art ...................................................................................................................... 9 3.1 Sequential Software Development: The Waterfall Model ..............................................9 3.1.1. Requirement Analysis ............................................................................................9 3.1.2. Design ................................................................................................................. 10 3.1.3. Implementation .................................................................................................... 10 3.1.4. Testing: Verification and Validation .................................................................... 10 3.1.5. Installation ........................................................................................................... 10 3.1.6. Maintenance ........................................................................................................ 11 3.2. Agile Software Development...................................................................................... 11 3.2.1. Overview of Agile methods ................................................................................. 11 3.2.2. The Agile Manifesto ............................................................................................ 11 3.2.3. The Agile Principles ............................................................................................ 11 3.2.4. The Agile Approach: Extreme Programming (XP) ............................................... 12 3.3. Organizational Structures ........................................................................................... 16 3.3.1. Entrepreneurial Organization ............................................................................... 16 4. Previous Research ................................................................................................................ 17 4.1. Literature Study ......................................................................................................... 17 4.2. Comparison (Pros and Cons) between the two models ................................................ 17 4.3. What is missing in theory? ......................................................................................... 19 4.4. Assumed prerequisites in software development lifecycle........................................... 20 Factor 1: Knowledge Sharing ........................................................................................ 20 Factor 2: Communication within teams.......................................................................... 20 Factor 3: Freedom of thought ........................................................................................ 21 5. Results .................................................................................................................................. 22 5.1. Case Study 1: Waterfall model in a startup ................................................................. 22 5.2. Case Study 2: Agile XP in a startup ............................................................................ 32 First Interview Analysis ................................................................................................. 32 Second Meeting ............................................................................................................. 32 Third Meeting ............................................................................................................... 33 Fourth Meeting .............................................................................................................. 38 5.3. Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 39 6. Discussion ............................................................................................................................ 41 7. Conclusions .......................................................................................................................... 42 7.1. Future Work ............................................................................................................... 43 7.2. Limitations ................................................................................................................. 43 8. Acknowledgement ................................................................................................................ 44 9. References ............................................................................................................................ 45 Appendices List of Figures Figure 1: Elements of Case Study Research [3] ....................................................................................4 Figure 2: Waterfall Model [4] ..............................................................................................................9 Figure 3: The Life cycle of a product according to XP process [12]..................................................... 13 Figure 4: Paper prototype for login page .......................................................................................... 23 Figure 5: Paper prototype for home page.......................................................................................... 24 Figure 6: Paper prototype for customer account ............................................................................... 27 Figure 7: Story Card (page 1) ........................................................................................................... 33 Figure 8: Story Card (Page