Agile has become todayβs dominant software development paradigm, but agile methods remain difficult to measure and improve. Essential Skills for the Agile Developer fills this gap from the bottom up, teaching proven techniques for assessing and optimizing both individual and team agile practices. Β Written by four principals of Net Objectivesβone of the worldβs leading agile training and consulting firmsβthis book reflects their unsurpassed experience helping organizations transition to agile. It focuses on the specific actions and insights that can deliver the greatest design and programming improvements with economical investment. Β The authors reveal key factors associated with successful agile projects and offer practical ways to measure them. Through actual examples, they address principles, attitudes, habits, technical practices, and design considerationsβand above all, show how to bring all these together to deliver higher-value software. Using the authorsβ techniques, managers and teams can optimize the whole organization and the whole product across its entire lifecycle. Β Essential Skills for the Agile Developer shows how to Β Perform programming by intentionSeparate use from constructionConsider testability before writing codeAvoid over- and under-designSucceed with Acceptance Test Driven Development (ATDD)Minimize complexity and reworkUse encapsulation more effectively and systematicallyKnow when and how to use inheritancePrepare for change more successfullyPerform continuous integration more successfullyMaster powerful best practices for design and refactoring