A major step for me when writing Software without Borders was sending out chapters for peer review. This is not the usual review for spelling and grammatical errors, but a review of the accuracy and relevancy of the content. I braced my ego and sent out the individual chapters to over 40 reviewers.

The chapters that created the most controversy with peers were Chapters 5 and 6 on Describing Your Software and Controlling Your Outsourcing for Outsourcing. I was chided for not taking a firmer stand in favor of the Agile approach.

There was no question that at the time these chapters needed improvement. But I was not going to be drafted as an Agile Evangelist. As you will read in the book, I strongly recommend Agile, especially for new software development. But there is still a place for other software development approaches too.

My experience during peer review was similar to feelings expressed by John Parkinson in the “Hands Off My Code” article in CIO Insight. Have you faced Agile peer pressure when making inquiries of the experts about your software development approach?

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