At first glance, it might seem strange to find agile software development methods applied within the context of a standards organization. Isn't it more natural, perhaps even more appropriate, for a standards organization to define a specification in detail prior to any implementation of the spec? On the other hand, it seems like simultanteous hands-on development could also be useful, since development complications that are not readily forseeable will show up earlier during the process of creating a reference implementation for the JSR.
Spec Lead Ronald Toegl believes the "implement first and specify later" apprach is the best for JSR 321:
To us, agility provides an efficient use of resources, short feedback cycles, and a chance to consider different approaches while still moving forward. It also allows us to take small, easy-to-reach steps.
The JSR 321 Expert Group started with a minimal prototype, from which Java interface definitions were extracted. After some discussion, these were released as an Early Draft. Currently, the team is implementing the interfaces and creating test cases. All of this is done in the open, with the code available in a public repository (see the java.net JSR 321 project).
JSR 314 Spec Lead Ed Burns has led three successive versions of Java Server Faces. This extensive experience brought Ed to the conclusion that "you have to build prototypes as you go along to test out the concepts." He notes: "By having the prototypes grow up with the spec, we achieved an important level of agility." Ed encourages spec leads not to spend much time on up-front design, but rather to "get some code running as soon as possible."
Of course, agile methods cannot work unless the team has a reasonable and mostly agreed-upon perception of what the ultimate goal is, an approximate vision of what the end product will look like. Given that general awareness, it seems that agile methods can indeed be applied within the context of JSR development. But what happens in the case where work is initiated on a JSR, then the project stalls for a considerable period of time? Can a new Spec Lead just pick up the project and immediately apply agile methods? Not quite.
JSR 303 (Bean Validation) fits into this category. JSR 303 was started, then progress was paused for a while, as the first Spec Lead Jason Carreira was unable to continue. Current Spec Lead Emmanuel Bernard notes the importance of listening first, and ensuring openness throughout the JSR specification and implementation process. When he accepted ownership of the project, Emmanuel analyzed the feedback that had already come out of the Expert Group, then created a core specification. Emmanuel made the entire process of developing both the specification and the reference implementation open, using a mailing list, a forum, blog posts, and a public repository. This "keeps everyone in the know and allows for early problem detection and feedback." Emmanuel's JSR management philosophy is summed up in this statement:
Work in the open. Release early and often, outside of JCP boundaries if necessary.
The full article includes a lot more than what I've presented here. Thanks to the JCP for providing it!
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