Part V: Understanding the XP Community

Software developers are a strange bunch.

From the outside, the XP community is really hard to understand and come to grips with. A very visible part is the fervor with which proponents of XP act as really passionate evangelists for this new approach to software development. Indeed, many come across as zealots that have been brainwashed into the XP cult.

In part, this is understandable because it is strange to see software developers get really passionate about anything. For better or worse, XP projects are actually fun to work on, and that is sure worth talking about. Unfortunately, many proponents choose to describe XP in terms that are derogatory toward other approaches to software development. While the resulting controversy can be useful for attracting attention in the long run, it makes it much harder for XP to move into the mainstream of software development.

Another interesting barrier to understanding XP is the way that the XP community has built up a jargon of its own. Part of the problem is that a lot of the original ideas for XP were written up on a Wiki Web [Leuf, 2001], and the way that pages are named on a Wiki Web has resulted in some ReallyStrangeSayings.

The other part of understanding the XP community involves looking at where XP fits with all the other approaches to software development. Right now, XP practitioners are focused on finding ways to transition projects to XP, but for me, the real question is how do projects transition away from XP?