Feature Driven Development (FDD)

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is an iterative and incremental software development methodology that blends industry best practices into a cohesive whole. Developed by Jeff De Luca and Peter Coad in the late 1990s, FDD focuses on delivering tangible, working software frequently while emphasizing quality throughout the development process. FDD consists of five sequential processes: 1. Develop an Overall Model: The team creates a high-level object model of the domain, establishing a framework for further development. 2. Build a Features List: The team identifies and categorizes features into business-valuable functions, creating a comprehensive feature list organized by business areas. 3. Plan by Feature: The team sequences features based on dependencies, complexity, and business priority, then assigns ownership to "Chief Programmers." 4. Design by Feature: Detailed design work occurs for selected features, with Chief Programmers selecting small feature sets for concurrent development. 5. Build by Feature: After design inspection, code is developed, tested, and integrated into the main build. Key characteristics of FDD include: - Two-week iterations (or shorter) - Feature-centric approach where features are small, client-valued functions - Class ownership, with developers responsible for specific classes - Feature teams that form dynamically for each feature - Regular builds to ensure integration - Configuration management - Progress reporting at all levels FDD differs from other Agile approaches by emphasizing domain object modeling, organizing work by features, and using specific roles like Chief Programmers, Class Owners, and Domain Experts. It scales well for larger teams and provides clear visibility into project progress through its "features completed" metrics. In the PMI-ACP context, FDD represents one of the Agile methodologies practitioners should understand as part of their comprehensive Agile knowledge.

Feature Driven Development (FDD) is an iterative and incremental software development methodology that blends industry best practices into a cohesive whole. Developed by Jeff De Luca and Peter Coad i…

Concepts covered: Client-valued Functionality (Features), Just in Time (JIT) Design and build, Regular Builds, Domain Object Modeling, Modeling in Color, Developing by Feature, Inspections, Feature Teams, Configuration Management, Individual Class Ownership