History of Agile Development

In 2001, a group of 17 developers that were focused on various lightweight software development methods met to learn more about each other’s approaches. Each of the lightweight models (including Extreme Programming (XP), and Adaptive Software Development (ASD), and Scrum) focused on building software quickly without being bogged down by the extensive requirements gathering phases found in the heavy weight methods, such as waterfall.

The meeting took place in Snowbird, Utah. The attendees named their software development movement “Agile” and authored the Agile Manifesto. The Manifesto describes the underlying values of Agile development. The authors of the Manifesto also published the 12 principles of Agile. Both the Manifesto and the principles of Agile can be found online at http://agilemanifesto.org.

The Agile Alliance is a nonprofit organization that was formed in late 2001 to support individuals and teams within the Agile community. They offer online resources, training, and community events. The adoption of Agile development has continued to grow since the meeting of the Agile Alliance founders.

The 13th Annual State of Agile Report, a survey of Agile trends conducted by VersionOne and published in mid-2019, shows that 97% of respondents practice Agile methods in their organizations, while 61% reported that they have been using Agile practices for 3 years or more.