Keeping the agile in ‘agile engineering’

The blog discusses various engineering techniques that can help teams write better software more quickly, using the spirit of the Agile Manifesto as a guide. It covers pair programming, checklists, and standards and templates. Pair programming is about emphasizing individuals and interactions rather than rigidly sticking to methodologies. Checklists ensure compliance and safety in high-pressure fields like Aviation, Health, and Food Safety, and can be useful in software engineering for business-critical functions that would cause more problems if not done correctly. Standardizing your interactions focuses on where humans interact, such as branch names, code review flows, and incoming tasks. Templates reduce cognitive load, encourage good practices, and mean less re-inventing the wheel. The most beneficial parts of agile are being flexible, listening to the people around you, and empathizing with them.