Is PHP Agile?
A client recently asked if PHP was an Agile programming language, and during the (rather lengthy) explanation a few principles worth exploring were covered:
In the context of software development Agile is really no more than a set of principles and values. At a meeting in February 2001 people who were then developing software differently to traditional processes drew up a manifesto; they formalised practices favouring constant feedback and change, flat hierachy, and delivered early and often.
PHP is generally considered a lightweight language, – often it is used because it can get things done quicker than with other languages. A language is never agile because it does not generally define the processes used when developing with it. However it can have qualities that can make its development quicker; PHP is light, interpreted, and it is simple. Unfortunately these reasons have also attracted people unconcerned with best practices in order to ‘just get their sites up and running’
Agile doesnt mean doing the job quickly, – dont expect to finish the project earlier, but you will deliver earlier. A part of the system that is testable, usable, and something that adds value. From the feedback the team and customer will decide what will be delivered next. The iterations are closer together than other approaches and in order to deliver quickly you will only deliver what you need.
As far as web application development is concerned, being an interpreted, lightweight, embeddable, simple language, with fairly reasonable object oriented support, PHP is in a fairly unique position to fulfill the needs of agile development teams. The elements are available, but of course it is up to the enterprises to take the step and use what is there for setting up their own agile development environment.
