Chapter 16: Conclusion: Neutralizing the Reality Distortion Field

Overview

Imagine

(Sing to the tune of Imagine by John Lennon)

Imagine there s no requirements
It s easy if you try
Just a bunch of coders
Reachin for the sky
Imagine all the people, coding for today

Imagine there s no schedules
It isn t hard to do
No silly project deadlines
No one supervising you
Imagine all the people, coding hand in hand

You may say I m an
Extremer
But I m not the only one
I hope someday you ll join us
And make coding lots more fun

Imagine oral documentation

I wonder if you can
No need for UML diagrams
Just words passed, man to man
Imagine just refactoring, playing in the sand

You may say I m an
Extremer

But I m not the only one
I hope someday you ll join us
And make coding lots more fun

Well, we ve come a long way together ( assuming you re not still standing in the bookstore deciding whether to buy this book ^[1] ). In this, the final chapter, we look at the philosophy that is at the very heart of XP, and then we discuss, in our own philosophical way, what to do next .

^[1] If you are standing in the bookstore trying to decide whether to buy this book, the answer is obvious: Go to the cash register right now and buy it ”you ll be glad you did (and so will we!).