How to release 2 years of unfinished code, the "Agile way" - Jonathan Hall

This resource first appeared in issue #118 on 16 Apr 2022 and has tags Technical Leadership: Software Development

How to release 2 years of unfinished code, the “Agile way” - Jonathan Hall

Sometimes you get yourself into a hole and need to find a way out. Hall recommends releasing something that works right away - some teeny change to the last related version - just to practice the (now quite out of date!) release process and give your team a quick win. It could even be a version bump and a change to the docs! Release something, then find a way to maybe fold in a little of the new code, and release again.

I expect the most controversial recommendation is:

Treat the last 2 years worth of code as “warehouse of old parts” That is to say: Don’t try to force the 2 years worth of code into production. Instead, put it to the side, and essentially start over, using an agile approach of building one valuable thing at a time. As you do this, feel free to rummage through the “warehouse of old parts” and pull in bits and pieces that are relevant, of course.