Now we're getting somewhere! No less an Agile/Scrum eminence than Mike Cohn -- author of some really good books and articles -- has come out with a newsletter on -- are you ready for this? -- what's the meaning of DONE in Agile.
His acronym, a bit a poor choice to my mind, is "DoD"... Definition of Done. But, there you have it... perhaps a new GAAP "generally accepted agile practice" for agile-done
In the past, my definition of "Done" has been framed by the answers to these three questions:
- Is it done when the money or schedule runs out?
- Is it done when the sponsor or product manager says it's done?
- Is it done when Best Value* has been delivered?
* The most ,and the most affordable, scope within the constraints of time and money
Cohn instructs us differently:
A typical definition of done would be something similar to:
- The code is well written. (That is, we’re happy with it and don’t feel like it immediately needs to be rewritten.)
- The code is checked in. (Kind of an “of course” statement, but still worth calling out.)
- The code was either pair programmed or peer reviewed.
- The code comes with tests at all appropriate levels. (That is, unit, service and user interface.)
- The feature the code implements has been documented in any end-user documentation such as manuals or help systems.
I am most definitely not saying they code something in a first sprint and test it in a second sprint. “Done” still means tested, but it may mean tested to different—but appropriate—levels.
Now, I find this quite practical.. Indeed, most of Cohn's stuff is very practical and reflects the way projects really work. But it's very tactical. There's more to a product than just the code. In other words his theory is proven when, in the crucible of a trying to make money or fulfill a mission by writing software, you are strategically successful (deployable, saleable, supportable product) while being simultaneously tactically successful. How swell for us who read Cohn!
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