A Catalogue of Agile Smells for Agility Assessment

Abstract

Background: The Manifesto for Agile Development has already inspired many software development methods such as Scrum, XP, and Crystal Reports. However, being ''agile'' is not trivial and only a few companies are capable of mastering so-called agile practices. Failure to apply the agile approach properly can do more harm than good and may jeopardize the benefits of an agile method. Thus, evaluating an organization's ability to apply agile practices using an agility assessment tool is critical. Aims: In this paper, we extend the metaphor of code smell and introduce the term agile smell to denote the issues and practices that may impair the adoption of the agile approach. The focus of the paper is defining and validating a catalogue of agile smells that can support agility assessment. Method: A literature review and a survey were conducted to identify and confirm the characterization of agile smells. Once identified, the agile smells were organized in a structured catalogue. Results: The literature review found 2376 references published between 2001 and 2018. We selected 55 papers for full consideration and identified 20 agile smells. The survey consulted 20 participants to determine the relevance of the selected agile smells. Conclusion: We have identified a set of 20 agile smells that were ranked according to their relevance. For each smell, we proposed at least one strategy to identify the smell's presence in real projects. The catalogue can be used by companies to support the assessment of their agility ability. INDEX TERMS Agility assessment, agile development, agile smell.

An End-to-End Platform for Managing Third-Party Risks in Oil Pipelines

“…This methodology is particularly well-suited for projects that require flexibility in response to evolving requirements and feedback [39], [40], making it an ideal choice for our purpose. Agile methodology operates on the principle of iterative work cycles [41], commonly referred to as 'sprints' [42]. Each sprint in our project was a self-contained mini-cycle that included comprehensive planning, detailed designing, creative development, testing, and critical reviewing of the components.…”

Software developers reasoning behind adoption and use of software development methods – a systematic literature review

“…Although they address the fit between specific cultures and agile SDMs, they do not address software developers' reasoning behind adopting and using agile SDMs. Finally, Telemaco et al [22] developed a catalog of agile SDM malpractice called "agile smells." Although the catalog is a valuable contribution to identifying malpractices in other contexts, they did not link such malpractices to software developers' reasoning.…”

“…Telemaco et al [22] Define a catalog of agile smell "to denote the issues and practices that may impair the adoption of the agile approach." They catalog malpractices.…”

“…As shown from the number of scholarly review articles in Section 2, SDM adoption and use have attracted significant research interest over the years. These reviews include the classification of SDM literature [20] and granular reviews that focus on subsets of the SDM literature, such as the benefits and limitations of agile SDMs [21] and agile smells [22]. Taken as a collective, these reviews do not provide any overview of SDM research that addresses software developers' reasoning about method rationale when adopting and using SDMs.…”

Bug Tracking Process Smells In Practice

“…A less studied, yet emerging area is the identification of smells in processes rather than artifacts. Process smells are defined as the deviations from best practices in either the development process as a whole [25] or in its specific parts, such as code review [6] and bug tracking [18]. In a recent study, Qamar et al [18] compile a taxonomy of 12 potential smells in the bug tracking process and propose algorithms for automated mining of these smells.…”