GUIDE 2024

How to Become an Amazing Agile Developer

Wondering what it takes to become an amazing agile developer?

Then look no further.

This post outlines all the traits and soft skills that characterize what it means to be an amazing agile developer.

Let’s explore them below.

9 Tips to Become a Rockstar Agile Developer

Assume Responsibility for the Quality of Deliverables

An agile developer engages in more than just developing a product and moving on. They observe and make inquiries when any aspect of the agile project goes awry. They work in tandem with the product owners and business analysts by making suggestions where necessary.
Product Management 
They perform audits and test deliverables to ensure that the technical aspects of the product meet the standard before the Quality Assurance team does their revisions.

The idea is to encourage team collaboration to satisfy the demands of a quality product that provides value to the business. This approach promotes sustainable software development because it employs the use of estimates, effective code management, automated testing, and takes user feedback into account.

Assume Responsibility for Defective Deliverables

Agile developers must come to terms with the fact that defects happen during software development. These defects compromise a software system’s ability to function and jeopardize the product’s ability to meet an end user’s needs.

While developers do make mistakes, the key is to own up to them and collaborate with the agile teams and business owners to resolve the issue.

However, rectifying the defect takes priority over ruminating on the cause as there is ample time to do so in the retrospective. 

Implement the ‘Definition of Done’ Concept

Conventional software development practices encourage the simultaneous building of multiple products. However, since agile methodology requires faster product delivery, agile developers employ the team’s Definition of Done, where developers receive criteria to which they aim to comply by the end of a specific sprint.

In order to adhere to this standard practice, agile developers must first follow a checklist that guides facets of the implementation process such as discussion, estimation, and design.

Developers must also remember the cost limitations of reworking a feature once the team has completed development. Therefore, they must do their utmost to maximize productivity and produce clean coding software.

Embrace the Concept of Teamwork

Agile methodologies revolve around the successes and failures associated with working within teams. Hence, the agile developer has to be receptive to assisting with and enacting unconventional roles within the organization. This includes helping with quality assurance, building a rapport with product management, design, operations, and even the business owner.

The objective is to maintain a connection to all facets of the agile project as this promotes sustainable code writing.

Some additional benefits of agile team collaboration include the improvement of code quality, a reduction in conflicting work streams, and overall multi-functionalism within the enterprise.

An amazing agile developer makes every effort to ensure that the team is successful during every sprint.

Be Willing to Learn and Mentor

A high-functioning agile team engages in organic cross-training, learning, and mentoring. The best agile developers value this sharing of knowledge as it is vital to the cross-functional productivity of the agile team. No matter how senior they are, agile developers make it a priority to not only learn from their peers but also impart knowledge through mentorship.

The idea is to cross-train within the agile team to spread knowledge of the code base. One way to accomplish this is through code reviews. Code reviews protect code quality while increasing understanding of said code, throughout the team. The opportunity to adopt new skills and focus on autonomous organizing techniques becomes more simple as agile developers maneuver through their product’s technology stack.

Use a Predictive Approach

A fundamental principle in agile software development is the need to adapt to the changing application development environments. Using various platforms such as cloud-native frameworks and reactive runtimes helps with this adaptive approach, That said, this type of approach also hinders a developer’s understanding of what is to happen in the next sprint.

A predictive approach centers on the analysis of known risks and the detailed planning of future sprints. An example of this is the accurate prediction of functions and tasks planned for the development process. What determines the success of this early-stage analysis is the ability to change the direction of the ongoing projects.

Practice Continuous Integration

Before deploying code into production, agile developers employ continuous integration to improve application quality. This entails combining all developers’ working copies to a shared mainline multiple times during the day. This requires the use of automated tools and frameworks such as cloud-native architecture and hybrid cloud workloads.

Continuous Integration Framework

Credits: Pagerduty.com

Continuous integration permits developers to build and test applications through automation. The intent is to detect unexpected errors and deter them from happening in production. This in turn increases the margin for product success and customer satisfaction. 

Explore Communities 

An amazing agile developer works on their craft by taking on bigger challenges. This involves becoming active participants in the open-source community. This not only helps to improve your abilities as an agile developer but also inspires other developers with an interest in learning agile practices.

The communities that you choose to join vary based on your interests and curiosities. Whether you opt to join a technical writing or coding community, doing so is an effective way of networking, sharing expertise, and helping other amazing agile developers.

Become a Rockstar Agile Developer Today

In the software development arena, being a good developer does not suffice. Using the agile framework and tailoring it to work to your benefit and that of the company is what makes you a rockstar agile developer.

Doing so means that you must take ownership and responsibility for your performance, be it good or bad.

It also means adhering to deadlines and maintaining favorable team dynamics.

Once you follow this guide and bear these tips in mind, you’re well on your way to becoming an A-class agile developer.

Josh Fechter
Josh Fechter
Josh Fechter is the co-founder of Product HQ, founder of Technical Writer HQ, and founder and head of product of Squibler. You can connect with him on LinkedIn here.