What is Agile? - Definition & Meaning

Definition

Agile is a philosophy and set of principles for software development that emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and continuous delivery of working software. The Agile Manifesto, created in 2001, values individuals and interactions over processes, working software over documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan.

Technical explanation

The Agile Manifesto is based on four core values and twelve principles that describe a fundamentally different approach to software development than the traditional waterfall method. Agile promotes iterative development where software is delivered in small, working increments, typically every one to four weeks. Continuous feedback from stakeholders adjusts the product direction. Cross-functional teams with all necessary skills work in a self-organizing manner. Technical excellence and good design enhance agility. Agile includes multiple frameworks and methods: Scrum provides structure through sprints, roles, and ceremonies; Kanban visualizes workflow and limits work-in-progress; Extreme Programming (XP) emphasizes technical practices like pair programming, test-driven development, and continuous integration; Lean Software Development minimizes waste; SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) scales agile for large organizations. DevOps extends agile principles to operations. Agile metrics such as velocity, cycle time, lead time, and cumulative flow diagrams measure team performance. Retrospectives are the mechanism for continuous process improvement.

How MG Software applies this

Agile is not a buzzword for MG Software but the core of how we work. We deliver working software in short iterations, actively involve the client at every step, and adapt quickly when priorities change. We combine Scrum sprints with Kanban for continuous work and XP practices like code reviews and CI/CD for technical quality. Clients appreciate seeing tangible results after each sprint and being able to give direct feedback, rather than waiting months for a final delivery.

Practical examples

• A software company that shortened their time-to-market by 40% after switching from waterfall to agile, delivering working features every two weeks instead of everything after six months.
• A product team that discovered through agile retrospectives that code reviews were a bottleneck and adapted the process by introducing pair programming, halving the lead time for features.
• A startup that adjusted their product direction thanks to agile principles after feedback from initial users: features with low usage received lower priority while unexpectedly popular functionality was developed at an accelerated pace.

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