agile methods are based on the agile manifesto and are adaptive in nature. agile methods ensure −

• team collaboration.
• customer collaboration.
• constant and continuous communication.
• response to changes.
• readiness of a working product.

several agile methods came into existence, promoting iterative and incremental development with time-boxed iterations. though the agile methods are adaptive, rules of the specific method cannot be by-passed and hence requires disciplined implementation.

agile methods – strengths

the advantages or strengths of agile method are −

• early and frequent releases.
• accommodation of changing requirements.
• daily communication among the customer and developers.
• projects built around motivated individuals.
• self-organizing teams.
• simplicity, focusing on what is immediately required.
• no building for future or overburdening the code.
• regular reflection to adjust behavior to improve effectiveness.

agile methods – weaknesses

the disadvantages or weaknesses of spiral method are −

• customer availability may not be possible.

• teams should be experienced to follow the rules of the method.

• appropriate planning is required to quickly decide on the functionality that needs to be delivered in an iteration.

• team is expected to have estimation skills and negotiation skills.

• team should have effective communication skills.

• new teams may not be able to organize themselves.

• requires discipline to develop and deliver in time-boxed iterations.

• design needs to be kept simple and maintainable, thus requiring effective design skills.

when to use agile methods?

the agile methods can be used when −

• application is time-critical.

• the scope is limited and less formal (scaling agile methods to larger projects is underway, with certain extensions to some of the agile methods).

• organization employs disciplined methods.