Extreme Programming

Extreme programming, known as XP, is a software development methodology intended to improve software quality and the ability of a team to respond to changing customer requirements. As a form of agile software development it calls for frequent releases in short development cycles, meant to raise productivity and create regular checkpoints at which new customer requirements can be absorbed. Its other practices include programming in pairs, extensive code review, unit testing of all code, declining to build a feature until it is actually needed, a flat management structure, and frequent communication with the customer and among programmers, all built on the premise that the beneficial elements of conventional software engineering practice, taken to an extreme, become more effective still; continuous code review, for example, becomes the practice of pair programming when taken to that extreme.