Digging into the fundamentals of extreme programming building the theoretical base for agile methods

Extreme programming (XP) is an accepted and widely used agile software development method with active user communities worldwide. There exists a great deal of anecdotal evidence to support the use of XP in different situations. While some empirical evidence regarding the use of a certain composite of XP practices exist, no scientifically grounded theory exists. Based on the notion that software engineering is knowledge-intensive work, we show that generic knowledge management theories can be used to explain how XP practices improve an organization´s agility. Tuomi´s [I. Tuomi, (!999)] model for knowledge creation is used to explain the different practices of XP. This gives a new perspective to agile processes and enables others to express agile practices in a more generic way. It is shown that agility is a result of a more effective knowledge creation process involving both the customer and development team. Based on this, practical implications and future research needs are identified.