Category: adaptation

Anticipation vs. Adaptation

June 19, 2008 by JurgenAppelo

In a recent talk on architecture vs. agile development, Philippe Kruchten presented a simple but compelling message:

Software Architecture is about anticipation of what is to come.
Agile Development is about adaptation in response to change.

These two often seem to be at odds, but they are not. Anticipation and adaptation are not simply two principles at opposite ends of a scale. I would rather think of them as two sides of the same coin. You can only look at one side at the same time. But they come together, as a pair. You cannot have one without the other, or you will have a bad coin. Or a bad project...