Rating:  - Invaluable
This is an exceptional book -- one that every developer should read even if they do not use the methods within.
The book reads sort of like a recipe book, with lots of little practices and how to do them. The early chapters are fairly prescriptive, presenting XP as a reasonable basis practice from which to evolve. Later chapters dig in on more specific practices and ways to extend your development. Each practice is examined for the how and what (what's the practice, how do I use it), why (what's the benefit) and when and where (in what contexts should I or should I not use this practice). The individual sections are fairly tightly focussed, so it can sometimes read like a number of separate practices operating in a vacuum. That said, the book deserves a thorough and mindful reading, because the big picture has to happen in your head rather than on the page. If there's a major flaw in the book, it would be that the tone of the writing is at times disarmingly colloquial, so it sometimes takes a while to realize that a major point was actually major.
The most impressive thing (for me) about this book is the way that Shore and Warden seemed biased towards the reader's success (with Agile methods a tool-chest in service to that end), rather than being biased towards the reader's success with Agile (with the methods just part of an Agile hammer). This quality pays dividends in the "contraindications" section, where Shore and Warden describe when *not* to use a practice, and what sorts of practices (Agile or not) or controls might be a better fit for your circumstances. In these sections, the veneer is off: Shore and Warden's goal seems to have less to do with your adoption of Agile and more to do with your success. Never mind the title of the book -- ceci n'est pas une pipe.
Over the course of my career I've been in successful projects and failed projects, using traditional methods, agile methods, and no methods at all. While I never rigorously studied the correlation, my memory tells me that the most successful projects were done by people who were constantly aware of the what, when and why of their work process, and who thoughtfully adapted the process to improve development. This book is for people who think like that, and for people who want to think like that.
Rating:  - Agile and XP Development. Good but too many long, too many repetitive ...
I red this book because I want to be an 'agile Developer'. The books it's very good, cover XP techniques from different points of view (manager, programmer, tester, etc.). The only drawback for me it's that some times the text it's very repetitive. In some chapter I found this very boring and some times exasperating. I think that this book will be great with 150 pages, but close to 400 pages it's too much.
Rating: - An extremely practical guide to extreme programming
This book has three parts in it - introduction to agility, guide to extreme programming and afterthoughts. You may want to read this book if you want to set up XP in your team or participate in it. It is mostly beneficial for the developers or project managers to read it.
The first part (Getting Started) is about 40 pages long and just puts you on the right track by discussing what agility means and introducing you to extreme programming. Here is where the authors explain how to determine whether XP is right in your case, what prerequisites are needed and what steps need to be taken to start.
The second part (Practicing XP) takes most of the book, some 300 pages and contains detailed guide to extreme programming. This is where all the XP practices are explained one by one. Each is given a big chapter - Thinking, Collaborating, Releasing, Planning and Developing. Inside each chapter, there is a detailed explanation of the relevant practices.
The last part (Mastering Agility) is again on the smaller side, it takes 40 pages and contains assorted advices along the "rules are there to be broken" lines. Afterthoughts to help you improve XP once you think you have mastered it.
It is therefore safe to say that the book is essentially a guide to XP, and a good one too. The writing style is excellent - information is organized in half a page long self-contained chunks, each chunk covers some concept or answers some question. Because of this, it is really easy to follow the material.
Even better, each chapter is closed with mandatory sections Questions, Results, Contraindications, Alternatives. Questions are indeed short Q&A and the questions were real-life, more often than not I have found mine answered. Results explain what exactly comes out of the discussed practice. Contraindications explain what obstacles there could appear. Alternatives explain what to do whenever you cannot use the discussed practice. Very realistic and informative.
There were a few imaginary tales from the field. You know, the ones that go like
- "We use XP here", said Alice.
- "Wow !", said Bob.
I don't generally like such stories, they make me feel stupid and therefore in my opinion the book (just like any other) could have got without them better. But this is just me.
An extremely practical guide to extreme programming.
Rating: - My favorite Agile Development book
I have about a dozen books on Agile and Lean development and this rapidly became my favorite.
Why: It's advice at the level I can use. Clear solid explanation and methods to understand what to do, what not to do, and most important, why.
It's just incredibly easy to read and use.
I've already bought 2 more copies to share with friends!
Rating: - Best book on XP practice
In my opinion, this is the best book for someone starting to implement XP. Before this book, other two books on XP practice were "XP applied" and "XP installed".
Book by James Shore and Shane Warden provides more broad coverage, then previous books, and contains a lot of good advice, what to do, what not do, and how to do what should be done, while going to the path of Agility.
Presentation is based on the XP, but book also shows a more wide perspective, and contains comparison with SCRUM
What I really like in the book
- Pragmatic approach to XP - In this book, you will not see approach XP as a holy grail - do it either this way, or you are wrong. Instead, authors expand the original definition of the XP from XP Explained by the practices, which they found to work well in real world
- Its practical focus - It contains a lot of the practical tips (for example, how to implement continuous integration successfully, how to do test-driven development, what is the real meaning of the user stories etc..)
- Balanced presentation - for each practice there is Q&A section, contraindications and alternative practices.
- Live style - book is written in clear and engaging language
Quality of book is very high, and I would recommend it to my friends as a best book to read on working in agile/XP style
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