Summary

Standards are a good thing. Think about this the next time you plug in your laptop. The power cord and the plug in the wall are a beautiful examples of standards in action.

A Rules and Guidelines document is a cost-effective and efficient template that helps a software development shop to implement standards-based software development practices. Standards-based software development produces consistent software products that make developers, testers, business analysts, and end users more efficient.

Standards-based software development directly supports the goals of the Agile Manifesto and its Twelve Principles. Standards enable teams to produce high-quality working software within short scheduled time frames. Standards-based software is easier to refactor when the time comes to adopt the inevitable changes associated the rapid pace of software evolution.