3x: Explore, Expand, Extract by Kent Beck

A great talk by Kent Beck. He talks about his facebook experience and provides the model for understanding the growth of the company, which affects how we should write code.

You should be able to answer these questions after watching this video:

  • Should you always write tests?
  • When is it easier to find investors for you company?
  • Why you stop enjoying your work when the company grows?

3x Explore, Expand, Extract

Before you can evaluate a method, you have to understand its goals. Before you can evaluate a style of software engineering, you have to understand its goals. Quick execution of experiments? Rapid scaling in the face of unexpected bottlenecks? Sustained, profitable growth? Each goals requires a different style and yet we talk about software engineering as if it should be one thing.
This talk introduces 3X and the ways software development, quality assurance, design, management, financing, planning, and staffing change depending on the goal of development.

Consistently challenges software engineering dogma, promoting ideas like patterns, test-driven development, and Extreme Programming. Currently affiliated with Three Rivers Institute and Agitar Software, he is the author of many Addison-Wesley titles.