Free Software Development Resources
Helping individuals, teams, and organizations with free resources to grow development skills.
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10 Deadly Sins of Software Estimation
The worst ways estimates go wrong, plus time-tested rules of thumb for dramatically improving estimation accuracy.
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10 Keys to Successful Scrum Adoption
The keys to successful Scrum adoption that we've identified during our consulting and training work with clients.
View →10 Pitfalls of Enterprise Agile Adoption
The pitfalls organizations commonly experience as they adopt Agile throughout their enterprise.
View →5 Common Gaps in Scrum Adoptions
Many teams encounter a consistent set of challenges with Scrum because of these gaps in their Scrum adoption.
View →5 Misconceptions About Kanban
Some organizations aren't using Kanban because of these misconceptions, but many would be well served by some use of Kanban.
View →6 Mistakes That Sabotage Scrum Adoptions
How can you avoid Scrum implementation mistakes and achieve the full benefits of Scrum?
View →6 Things Every Software Executive Should Know About Scrum
The success (or failure) of Scrum is all in how it’s adopted.
View →7 Diagrams Every Software Professional Should Understand
Key insights into how to acquire “professional judgment” in software development.
View →7 Unbreakable Rules of Software Leadership
Crucial rules that lead software executives from satisfactory to superior.
View →8 Principles of 10x Development
What makes one software development team far more productive than another?
View →Agile Estimation: Key Principles and Practices
Key principles and practices for effective Agile project estimating and planning.
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Agile Technical Coach Career Path
Learn the career path to go from developer to Agile technical coach.
View →Balanced Solutions with the Three-Circle Model
Creating solutions to customer problems involves balancing three perspectives: business, usage, and technology.
View →Blended Learning for Software Professionals
The choice of training modalities does not have to be an either/or choice.
View →Business Case for Better Software Practices
Improved software practices offer ROIs of 500% or even significantly more in many cases!
View →Case Studies in Software Engineering Judgment
Sound professional judgment is key to diagnosing past failures and creating future successes.
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Cone of Uncertainty – Poster
All software projects are subject to inherent errors in early estimates.
View →Cost of Estimation Error – Poster
Skillful project planners strive for accurate estimates, and they especially strive to avoid underestimating.
View →Establishing a Measurement Program
As a measurement program is established, the organization must first determine its specific improvement goals.
View →How to Choose an Agile Scaling Framework
Key insights about choosing an Agile scaling framework that is the right fit for your organization.
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Inspect & Adapt
Welcome to our podcast! Listen in as our experts discuss the most important concepts in professional software development.
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Lessons Learned in Agile Transformation
Lessons Construx has learned firsthand helping companies transform their organizations to become more Agile.
View →Making Change Stick
Learn the techniques that help organizations successfully introduce and support change.
View →Managing Technical Debt
Insights into using technical debt strategically and keeping technical and business staff involved in the process.
View →Managing Technical Debt
"Technical debt" refers to delayed technical work that is incurred when technical shortcuts are taken.
View →More Effective Agile: Podcast Episodes
This podcast series describes 28 key principles that enable effective Agile from Steve McConnell's book, More Effective Agile: A Roadmap
View →Product Owner Career Path
Learn the career path to go from a business analyst to a senior product owner.
View →Professional Development Ladder
Support high-potential staff with well-defined career paths for software professionals.
View →Retrofitting Legacy Systems with Unit Tests
Many companies have existing systems with little to no current unit testing. What response makes sense?
View →Right-Sizing Agile Development
Learn how to right-size agile development for your organization.
View →Scrum Level Up Datasheet
Learn about our structured virtual process to assess your team’s use of Scrum and guide your team to better performance.
View →Season 1: Episode 01
Gradients of agreement, forms of waste, real Kanban boards, and longer-term scrum planning.
View →Season 1: Episode 02
Addressing struggling scrum adoptions, responding to the agile test, and properly sizing backlog items.
View →Season 1: Episode 03
The legacy code dilemma, modified condition decision coverage, and pairwise testing.
View →Season 1: Episode 04
More Effective Agile, Part 1: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 05
Design Patterns: What's their connection to fundamental design principles?
View →Season 1: Episode 06
Jeff Atwood and Steve McConnell on effective software development process.
View →Season 1: Episode 07
Jeff and Steve continue their conversation about effective software development process.
View →Season 1: Episode 08
Scaling Agile: The importance of batch size, using backfilling, and the key to collaboration.
View →Season 1: Episode 09
More Effective Agile, Part 2: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 10
More Effective Agile, Part 3: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 11
Specific strategies and concepts that will help your first Scrum efforts be successful.
View →Season 1: Episode 12
More Effective Agile, Part 4: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 13
More Effective Agile, Part 5: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 14
What effect is working from home during the coronavirus pandemic having on software development?
View →Season 1: Episode 16
Drive down inherent risk and learn techniques to increase your chance of success.
View →Season 1: Episode 18
More Effective Agile, Part 6: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 19
More Effective Kanban, Part 1: Jenny Stuart describes the key principles of effective Kanban.
View →Season 1: Episode 20
More Effective Agile, Part 7: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 21
More Effective Agile, Part 8: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 22
More Effective Agile, Part 9: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 23
More Effective Agile, Part 9: Steve McConnell describes the key principles of his new book.
View →Season 1: Episode 24
More Effective Kanban, Part 2: Operating and Optimizing Your Kanban System.
View →Season 2: Episode 1
Crafting Software, Part 1: Beers to Pair with Requirements, Design & Estimation
View →Secrets of the Agile Scaling Gurus
Learn the secrets to succeeding with Agile development on large projects.
View →Secrets of World-Class Software Organizations
Learn how world-class software organizations operate differently than average organizations.
View →Software Architect Career Path
Learn the career path to go from developer to software architect.
View →Software Development’s Classic Mistakes
Software development's classic mistakes are still occurring on software projects.
View →Software Development’s Cone of Uncertainty
The "Cone of Uncertainty" is a model for understanding estimation uncertainty in software projects.
View →Software Development’s Defect Cost Increase Curve – Poster
Studies have repeatedly shown that it pays to remove defects early.
View →Software Estimation in an Agile World
Common impediments to estimation on Agile projects, plus key practices that lead to estimation providing far better results.
View →Software Quality Manager Career Path
Learn the career path to go from tester to software quality manager.
View →Software Technical Manager Career Path
Learn the career path to go from developer to software technical manager.
View →Solving the Mystery of Innovation in Tech Orgs
Targeted practices based on well-established principles of human behavior can significantly increase your organization's innovation.
View →Staffing Scrum Roles
The Scrum roles, critical attributes needed to be successful in the roles, and best practices for staffing the roles.
View →Succeeding with Geographically Distributed Scrum
The coordination, communication, integration, and architectural work necessary for geographically distributed Scrum.
View →The 10 Most Deadly Mistakes in Software Development – Poster
An illustration of the 10 most common mistakes that lead to software project failure.
View →The Business Case for Better Software Practices
An average software company spends 2–3 times more on each software project than a best-in-class company spends.
View →The Cone of Uncertainty
How much of a factor is the Cone and how does it affect both Agile and sequential projects?
View →The Journey to Organization-Wide Scrum
How can you realize the full benefits of Scrum in larger teams, geographically distributed teams, and more complex organizations?
View →The Scrum Wall: An Agile Project Dashboard – Poster
A Scrum wall drives collaboration, shares information, shows progress, and highlights impediments.
View →Value-Driven Delivery
Learn the most compelling way to structure and sequence work when creating solutions.
View →WFH in the Age of Coronavirus
Learn lessons for today and tomorrow about WFH during the coronavirus pandemic.
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WFH in the Age of Coronavirus: Infographic
How has work changed due to the coronavirus pandemic?
View →Why Metrics Programs Fail
Our recommendations for the implementation of successful software metrics programs.
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