An Empirical Study Examining the Usage and Perceived Importance of XP Practices

Extreme Programming (XP) is a well known agile software development methodology which is ideal for projects featured as highly unpredictable in tasks with limited resources. The continuous discussion on the usage and importance of each XP practice lead us to explore what are the most important XP practices to be applied in certain projects. This study examined the actual usage amount and perceived importance of each XP practice by means of a cross-sectional anonymous survey conducted in local organizations which have implemented XP in their projects. Results indicate that Continuous Integration and Collective Ownership as the most important. Collective Ownership, Continuous Integration, Pair Programming, Planning Game and Sustainable Pace are used the most. Both practitioners and researchers can build upon these findings.