When I was first introduced to the idea of using user stories in a commercial environment I didn’t really know what they were. I’d seen some other people using them and noticed that they seemed to be a breakdown of what was needed for a given system and then the developers would pick up one story at a time and work on it. “Marvelous!” I thought, but what’s the point?

A brief introduction to user stories

www.agilemodeling.com define User Stories as being:

User stories are one of the primary development artifacts for XP project teams. A user story is a very high-level definition of a requirement, containing just enough information so that the developers can produce a reasonable estimate of the effort to implement it. A good way to think about a user story is that it is a reminder to have a conversation with your customer (in XP project stakeholders are called customers).

Ron Jeffries Three C’s:

Ron Jeffries of xprogramming.com has identified three many components that make up User Stories:

Card

• Stories are traditionally written on note cards.
• Cards may be annotated with estimates, notes, etc.

Conversation

• Details behind the story come out during conversations with product owner.

Confirmation

• Acceptance tests confirm the story was coded correctly.

Source: XP Magazine 30/08/2001, Ron Jeffries

So what’s the point in all of this?

For those of us who have worked in AGILE environments  before it will seem obvious to say that communication is the key to any succesfull project however for many, this idea can be quite a new concept.

But what is communication? When we talk about communication as a noun (nominalisation) it’s easy to “think” that you’re communicating effectively and as long as “communication” is “done” then you’ve done all that’s required. In my experience, that’s not what really happens and the necessity to de-nominalise the term “communication” is of huge benefit.

Depending on who you’re communicating with determines how you communicate. When working between teams, whether it be between technical teams or between techies and the business, there are certain parts of the communication which are vital:

• A common language that everyone can understand
• Clarity in communication eliminating as many ambiguities and nominalisations as possible
• Flexibility, not only for negotiation but also flexibility in what you say, how you say it, and what your intent is with the things you say.
• Language to experience map-across (re-connecting the words said with the actual experience they describe)
• Clear intent for the communication it’s self (what are we all here for)
• The ability to accurately gather information (ask targeted questions, listen in an information gathering way etc)

These are just a few of the things that I consider necessary for good communication and I’ll be covering many of them in more detail, plus more, in a new series of posts about communication.

User Stories are one step in the bigger picture of communication. By reminding ourselves to discuss things with real people, by chunking information in such a way that it becomes more easily estimatable and trackable and by promoting a transparent work ethic, we all win.

The main reason for this is that each art has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. Some arts are good for distance fighting, some for close range, some are better than others at ground work and some have better defensive maneuvers than others.

For thousands of years there are have been conflicts and debates about which Martial Art is better than which and which one will “kick butt” more than the next. There have been inter-style battles, movies made, battle field conflicts and even Internet flame matches of people trying to prove that their Martial Art is the best.

Now we’ve reached a time where being eclectic is sought after. Where the best of the best are versed in all areas of defense and attack and where battles are no longer about which style you use, but about how good you are compared to the next person.

This is a revolution that’s going to happen in the world of programming and already we’re seeing the idea of the Mixed Language Artist beginning to spread.

When I think back over the last 10 years of programming, even to before I was commercially involved, we find that old “My language is better than your language” debate popping up all over the place. Whether it’s on Internet Forums, Books, Blogs, Webinars or Live training events.

This article signals the end of those times and the beginning of something new. This is the era of the Mixed Language Artist.

What is a Mixed Language Artist?

A mixed language artist is ultimately someone who does what it takes the get the job done. No longer do we developers sit behind our language specific berlin walls in our ivory towers of smuggness. The Mixed Language Artist knows what tools to use to get the job done. Whether that’s using C# and .NET, PHP, Ruby, SQL and even software like Excel.

I recently wrote a post about utilisation in which I talk about the idea of utilising what’s already available to you as a developer before you go about re-inventing the wheel. This is another skill for the true Mixed Language Artist because the ability to take what’s already out there and to use it in a way that fulfils your criteria and saves time, money, skill and sanity are all key components to being a true artist.

So how do you become a Mixed Language Artist?

Being a Mixed Language Artist is not just about programming or programming languages. It’s an attitude that leads you in a direction where the language is just a tool in getting the job done. The cornerstone to all of this is the attitude. It’s about knowing what you want to create, knowing what tools you have available to you, being able to utilise what’s around you and ultimately, it’s about feeling that rush of a job well done.

For thousands of years the Martial Arts developed before Western Society realised the benefits of mixing the strengths of each art together. Today we can make a choice the create a new wave of developers, engineers, craftsmen and architects. This is the time of the Mixed Language Artist.