Specification by Example: How Successful Teams Deliver the Right Software

Summary

Specification by Example is an emerging practice for creating software based on realistic examples, bridging the communication gap between business stakeholders and the dev teams building the software. In this book, author Gojko Adzic distills interviews with successful teams worldwide, sharing how they specify, develop, and deliver software, without defects, in short iterative delivery cycles.

Specification by Example is a collaborative method for specifying requirements and tests. Seven patterns, fully explored in this book, are key to making the method effective. The method has four main benefits: it produces living, reliable documentation; it defines expectations clearly and makes validation efficient; it reduces rework; and, above all, it assures delivery teams and business stakeholders that the software that's built is right for its purpose.

This book distills from the experience of leading teams worldwide effective ways to specify, test, and deliver software in short, iterative delivery cycles. Case studies in this book range from small web startups to large financial institutions, working in many processes including XP, Scrum, and Kanban.

This book is written for developers, testers, analysts, and business people working together to build great software.

• Common process patterns
• How to avoid bad practices
• Fitting SBE in your process
• 50+ case studies

For additional resources go to specificationbyexample.com.

Part 1 Getting started

1. Key benefits
2. Key process patterns
3. Living documentation
4. Initiating the changes

Part 2 Key process patterns

5. Deriving scope from goals
6. Specifying collaboratively
7. Illustrating using examples
8. Refining the specification
9. Automating validation without changing specifications
10. Validating frequently
11. Evolving a documentation system

Part 3 Case studies

12. uSwitch
13. RainStor
14. Iowa Student Loan
15. Sabre Airline Solutions
16. ePlan Services
17. Songkick
18. Concluding thoughts