Section 32.2. Spike

32.2. Spike

After some discussion about the best place to start, Emily decided to start with a simple mockup rather than with the full RentEz system. She developed the simple Fit test shown in Figure 32.1. This test includes a setup table to define two rental items, followed by a table to check the current set of rental items.

Figure 32.1. Setup and Check

Emily then developed a much simplified user interface for part of RentEz to run this test. This UI is shown in Figure 32.2; when the user clicks the Add button, the dialog box shown in Figure 32.3 results.

Figure 32.2. Spiked RentEz Application

Figure 32.3. Dialog Box for Adding Rental Items

Note

In Extreme Programming, a spike is a short experiment with some technology or some possible solution to a problem. The idea is to learn from the experience and to then apply the improved understanding to the system under development.