Delve deep into the various technical practices principles and values of Agile. Key Features Discover the essence of Agile software development and the key principles of software design Explore the fundamental practices of Agile working including test-driven development (TDD) refactoring pair programming and continuous integration Learn and apply the four elements of simple design Book Description The number of popular technical practices has grown exponentially in the last few years. Learning the common fundamental software development practices can help you become a better programmer. This book uses the term Agile as a wide umbrella and covers Agile principles and practices as well as most methodologies associated with it. You'll begin by discovering how driver-navigator chess clock and other techniques used in the pair programming approach introduce discipline while writing code. You'll then learn to safely change the design of your code using refactoring. While learning these techniques you'll also explore various best practices to write efficient tests. The concluding chapters of the book delve deep into the SOLID principles - the five design principles that you can use to make your software more understandable flexible and maintainable. By the end of the book you will have discovered new ideas for improving your software design skills the relationship within your team and the way your business works. What you will learn Apply the red green refactor cycle of TDD to solve procedural problems Implement the various techniques used in the pair programming approach Use code smells as feedback Test your production code using mocks and stubs Refactor legacy code to bring it in line with modern Agile standards Apply the object calisthenics ruleset to enhance your software design Who this book is for This book is designed for software developers looking to improve their technical practices. Software coaches may also find it helpful as a teaching reference manual. This is not a beginner's book on how to program. You must be comfortable with at least one programming language and must be able to write unit tests using any unit testing framework.