The final article in the series about the Pomodoro Technique® and Scrum covers objective VI: Other Possible Objectives which, I admit, is a bit fuzzy.

One goal of Scrum is to continuously improve. This is formalized in the sprint retrospective. Identifying and implementing potential improvements is part of the agenda, and second nature to agile practitioners.

This post is about the Pomodoro Technique® objective V: Set up a timetable. Instead of writing about how setting up a timetable and respecting work hours helps you keep a sustainable pace and uphold productivity (curiously enough a key XP practice as well :-)), I will focus on the similarities between objective V and a Scrum Sprint.

I think it's striking how well the fifth Pomodoro objective correspond to the essence of iterative development and Sprints.

This is the fourth post in a series about hidden project changes: things that affect scope but are easily overlooked. The topic for this post is third party APIs.

You often have to rely on third parties to finish a project. Having a dependency on third party code is a big commitment though, and you should consider it carefully.

If you have no choice but to use a certain API (perhaps it is a requirement by the customer or the only one available) reviewing it is especially important to provide accurate time estimates and properly analyze associated risks.

Having started with the Pomodoro Technique® and seen how it can help you focus by cutting down on interruptions and improve estimations, it is now time to get the most out of each Pomodoro: Make the Pomodoro More Effective.

A big part of making the Pomodoro more effective is to think about how you structure and apply Pomodoros. It can also involve introducing dedicated Pomodoros for specific subtasks, and splitting work into meaningful subtasks.

This is the third post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The third objective is to Estimate the Effort for Activities.

All developers are used to giving estimates. Most developers are also aware of the problems related to giving accurate estimates. Especially, providing an estimate in calendar time can prove difficult, not to say impossible. Pomodoros offer an alternative approach that works very well with Scrum.

This is the second post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The second objective is to cut down on interruptions.

The Pomodoro Technique® talks about internal and external interruptions. I immediately noticed a change in how I dealt with internal interruptions. It is more difficult to decrease the number of external interruptions. I have, however, noticed a change here as well, which I will mention shortly.

Commenting code is by some considered a code smell or anti-pattern in itself: code should be self explanatory. I agree that a lot of comments could have been left out in the first place. I think comments serve a purpose though, used in the right way. However, here are three ways not to use comments in code.

This is the first post in a series about applying the Pomodoro Technique® to Scrum and for development.

Each post covers one of the Pomodoro Technique® objectives. The first objective is to find out how much effort an activity requires.

I started using the Pomodoro Technique® a couple of weeks ago. At first simply trying to work focused for 25 minutes with 5 minute breaks. I didn’t do this all the time, though, as I didn’t feel my working environment allowed it.

Today, I primarily use the Pomodoros when developing. When I get a chance, I will definitely apply it to other tasks as well, such as writing and studying.

Version control, also known as revision control or source control, is an integral part of software development. Like chess, it is easy to learn the basic principles but takes a lifetime to master. Many teams end up in an impenetrable jungle of branches and merging.

Having a well thought-out branching strategy is crucial. This article covers the basics of branching, and suggests a branching strategy to use: branch by purpose.

This blog is all about being an IT consultant and software developer. It covers everything. Everything except code. So, what fills a developer’s day other than coding? Here is a list with work day stuffing.