Describe the important characteristics of extreme programming (XP)

What will be an ideal response?

Answer: Some of the more important characteristics of extreme programming include: 1.Uses two-person programming teams. 2. Recognizes that changes to systems requirements are a normal and accepted occurrence in software development that should be expected and planned for as time passes and system needs are better understood. XP embraces changes and abandons the idea that a stable set of requirements can be produced during the initial planning phase of development. 3. Uses short development cycles, culminating in frequent software releases, so that there are many checkpoints that allow new customer requirements to be introduced. Makes many small, incremental changes, rather than a few big changes, allowing the customer more control over the software development process. It reduces the cost of changes and improves development productivity. 4. Starts with the simplest solution and only adds extra functionality as needed. Trying to design and code uncertain or complex future requirements might delay crucial features and risks spending resources on features that might not be needed or desired. 5. Uses code to communicate thoughts about complex or hard to understand programming problems. Often, clear and concise code can better explain a problem than a written or oral description of the problem. Other programmers can give feedback on this code by coding their thoughts about the problem. 6. Requires programmers to listen to customer needs and understand their business processes so they can provide customer feedback about the technical aspects of how a problem can or cannot be solved. 7.Tests extensively every piece of code that is written before developing additional features to eliminate as many coding flaws as possible. 8. Requires frequent and prompt communication and feedback between customers, developers, and testers. Customers communicate their needs and help develop the acceptance tests that occur every few weeks so they can easily correct design flaws and steer development. Developers estimate the costs and the time required to implement new requirements and communicate them to customers. Developers need feedback from testers to correct errors or weaknesses found during testing. 9. Organizes system logic to prevent system dependencies so that changes in one part of the system will not affect other parts of the system.