Enter Data Refactoring
进入数据重构
Jim and I had never been persuaded by the argument that the database design could never be changed once installed. We had the idea that if you wanted to have a minimal system, then it was necessary to take changes or new requirements to the system and repeat the basic system cycle over again, reintegrating these new requirements with the original requirements to create a new system. You could say that what we were doing was data refactoring, although we never called it that.
Jim和我永远都不会承认一旦系统开始运行就不能再改变数据库设计的观点.我们认为,如果你想使系统保持最精简的状态,就必须要把所要做的变化或新的功能引入到系统中并重复基本的开发过程,使新的需求和旧的需求融合在一起而成为一个新的系统.你可能会说我们所作的就是数据重构,可我们从来不那么说.
The advantages of this approach turned out to be significant. For one thing, there was no major difference between development of a new system and the maintenance or major modification of an existing one. This meant that training and project management could be simplified considerably. It also meant that our systems tended not to degrade over time, since we "built in" changes rather than "adding them on" to the existing system.
这么做的好处是显而易见的.首先,开发一个新系统和维护或对旧系统统进行较大改造的区别并不是很大.这就意味着管理一个项目和培训工作将大大减少.同时,也将减少开发时间,这是因为我们对变化的处理方式不同，一个是''built in''(建立在变化之上),另一个是''adding them on''(添加变化)。
Over a period of years, we built a methodology (Data Structured Systems Development or Warnier/Orr) and trained thousands of systems analysts and programmers. The process that we developed was largely manual, although we thought that if we built a detailed-enough methodology, it should be possible to automate large pieces of that methodology in CASE tools.
在过去的几年里，我们建立了一种方法（结构化系统设计方法或Warnier-Orr法）并且培训了数以千计的系统分析员和编程人员。即便我们在定义了足够详细的各种说明后有可能用CASE工具实现大部分工作，但开发过程仍需要大量的手工工作。
Automating Data Refactoring
自动化的数据重构
To make the story short, a group of systems developers in South America finally accomplished the automation of our data refactoring approach in the late 1980s. A company led by Breogán Gonda and Nicolás Jodal created a tool called GeneXus 1 that accomplished what we had conceived in the 1970s. They created an approach in which you could enter data structures for input screens; with those data structures, GeneXus automatically designed a normalized database and generated the code to navigate, update, and report against that database.
为了缩短开发时间，南美的一组系统开发人员在80年代年开发出了数据重构自动化工具。由Breogán Gonda 和 Nicolás Jodal领导的公司开发了一种名叫GeneXus的工具，这正是我们在70年代所构想要的。他们创建的方法使我们在输入数据结构以后，系统能够自动为你创建规范的数据库并产生浏览、更新和输出数据的代码。
But that was the easy part. They designed their tool in such a way that when requirements changed or users came up with something new or different, they could restate their requirements, rerun (recompile), and GeneXus would redesign the database, convert the previous database automatically to the new design, and then regenerate just those programs that were affected by the changes in the database design. They created a closed-loop refactoring cycle based on data requirements.
这就使事情简单了，这种工具使得当用户的需求或系统的要求改变后只需要修改原有的定义，重新编译，就能够重新设计数据库以适应新的需求，并产生仅仅受数据库修改影响而需要改变的代码。这就是基于数据的闭环的重构过程。
GeneXus showed us what was really possible using a refactoring framework. For the first time in my experience, developers were freed from having to worry about future requirements. It allowed them to define just what they knew and then rapidly build a system that did just what they had defined. Then, when (not if) the requirements changed, they could simply reenter those changes, recompile the system, and they had a new, completely integrated, minimal system that incorporated the new requirements.
GeneXus使我们认识到重构能构给我们带来的真正的东西。就我的经验而言，这使开发人员从对未来需求的担忧中解脱出来，从而能够使开发人员仅仅定义他们所知道的并快速的实现所定义的所有内容。因此，当系统的需求更改以后，他们只须简单的加入那些修改，重新编译，就可以得到一个新的、完全集成的、满足新的需求的最小系统。
What Does All This Mean?
所有的这一切意味着什么？
Refactoring is becoming something of a buzzword. And like all buzzwords, there is some good news and some bad news. The good news is that, when implemented correctly, refactoring makes it possible for us to build very robust systems very rapidly. The bad news is that we have to rethink how we go about developing systems. Many of our most cherished project management and development strategies need to be rethought. We have to become very conscious of interactive, incremental design. We have to be much more willing to prototype our way to success and to use tools that will do complex parts of the systems development process (database design and code generation) for us.
重构正在逐渐变成一个时髦的词语。与所有的时髦的东西一样，既有好的一面，也有坏的一面。好的一面是：如果能够正确的实施，重构使我们有可能快速构建健壮的系统。坏的一方面是：我们不得不重新考虑如何进行开发。原先采用的所有开发和管理策略需要重新考虑。我们必须了解交互式的、增量的开发方法；我们还必须习惯于使我们能够成功的模式化的开发方法和使用工具来完成系统开发工作中那些复杂的工作（数据库设计和代码生成）。
In the 1980s, CASE was a technology that was somehow going to revolutionize programming. In the 1990s, objects and OO development were going to do the same. Neither of these technologies lived up to their early expectations. But today, tools like GeneXus really do many of the things that the system gurus of the 1980s anticipated. It is possible, currently, to take a set of requirements, automatically design a database from those requirements, generate an operational database from among the number of commercially available relational databases (Oracle, DB2, Informix, MS SQL Server, and Access), and generate code (prototype and production) that will navigate, update, and report against those databases in a variety of different languages (COBOL, RPG, C, C++, and Java). Moreover, it will do this at very high speed.
80年代，CASE使开发产生革命性的变化。90年代，对象和OO方法也使开发产生革命性的变化。这些技术都没有像达到期望的效果。但现在，像GeneXus这样的工具切切实实的做到了80年代人们所期望的东西。确实有可能在给定系统需求后自动进行数据库设计，生成一种实际工作的商用关系型数据库（Oracle, DB2, Informix, MS SQL Server, and Access），并产生能够浏览、更新和输出数据库中数据的不同语言（COBOL, RPG, C, C++, and Java）的代码（原型和结果）。
This new approach to systems development allows us to spend much more time with users, exploring their requirements and giving them user interface choices that were never possible when we were building things at arm''s length. But not everybody appreciates this new world. For one thing, it takes a great deal of the mystery out of the process. For another, it puts much more stress on rapid development.
新的系统开发方法能够使我们有更多的时间和用户交流，分析用户的需求，让用户选择不同的交互界面，这在只凭自己来完成所有事情的时侯是不可能的。但是并不是所有人都喜欢这一开发方法。一个是因为这将很大程度上拨开开发过程的神秘面纱。另一个是因为这也给快速开发增加了压力。
When people tell you that building simple, minimal systems is out of date in this Internet age, tell them that the Internet is all about speed and service. Tell them that refactoring is not just the best way to build the kind of systems that we need for the 21st century, it is the only way.
当人们告诉你在Internet时代已经不可能再建立简单、精简的系统的时侯，那么告诉他们Internet是速度和服务的天下，告诉他们重构不仅仅是在21世纪建立这样系统的最好方法，也是唯一的方法。
NOTES
1 Gonda and Jodal created a company called ARTech to market the GeneXus product. It currently has more than 3,000 customers worldwide and is marketed in the US by GeneXus, Inc.
Crystal Light Methods: Comments by Alistair Cockburn
轻量级的Crystal方法
Editor''s note: In the early 1990s, Alistair Cockburn was hired by the IBM Consulting Group to construct and document a methodology for OO development. IBM had no preferences as to what the answer might look like, just that it work. Cockburn''s approach to the assignment was to interview as many project team members as possible, writing down whatever the teams said was important to their success (or failure). The results were surprising. The remainder of this section was written by Cockburn and is based on his "in-process" book on minimal methodologies.
编者注：在九十年代早期，Alistair Cockburn IBM顾问组工作时，为OO（面向对象）的开发制订了一套工作方法。IBM认为不管白猫黑猫，抓的到老鼠就是好猫。Cockburn 深入接触许多开发小组，写下了他们认为导致项目成功或者失败的关键之处。结果让人大吃一惊。以下内容是由 Cockburn写的，基于他的含有极少方法论的"实战工作"书 。
In the IBM study, team after successful team "apologized" for not following a formal process, for not using a high-tech CASE tool, for "merely" sitting close to each other and discussing as they went. Meanwhile, a number of failing teams puzzled over why they failed despite using a formal process - maybe they hadn''t followed it well enough? I finally started encountering teams who asserted that they succeeded exactly because they did not get caught up in fancy processes and deliverables, but instead sat close together so they could talk easily and delivered tested software frequently.
在IBM的研究组里，开发小组要向以前成功的小组"道歉"，因为他们没有遵守一道正式的工序， 因为他们没有用一个高科技的CASE工具，又或者"仅仅"因为他们坐在一起，讨论他们下步 该怎么做。 同时，一些失败的小组觉得非常迷惑，尽管他们使用了正式的工序，他们还是 失败了--也许是遵守这些工序还遵守的不够好？后来我开始碰到一些成功的小组，他们宣称 正是因为没有陷于花里胡哨的过程和可发布性，而是大家坐在一起，从而使得他们可以 更容易的加以讨论并且经常交换测试后的软件，最终才得以成功。
These results have been consistent, from 1991 to 1999, from Hong Kong to the Americas, Norway, and South Africa, in COBOL, Smalltalk, Java, Visual Basic, Sapiens, and Synon. The shortest statement of the results are:
这些结论从 1991 到 1999，从香港到美国, 挪威, 和南非,在COBOL, Smalltalk, Java, Visual Basic, Sapiens, 和 Synon都是一贯坚持 , 这些结论的最短描述是：
To the extent you can replace written documentation with face-to-face interactions, you can reduce reliance on written work products and improve the likelihood of delivering the system.
尽可能在你的范围内，用面对面的沟通来代替写文档，从而可以减少对写好了的工作产品的依赖，并 增大发布系统的可能性
The more frequently you can deliver running, tested slices of the system, the more you can reduce reliance on written "promissory" notes and improve the likelihood of delivering the system.
越是经常发布正在运行着并且经过测试的系统片段，就越能让你减少对写好的"约定"标记的依赖，越能增大最终发布系统的可能性
People are communicating beings. Even introverted programmers do better with informal, face-to-face communication than with paper documents. From a cost and time perspective, writing takes longer and is less communicative than discussing at the whiteboard.
应当以人性的方式加以沟通。即使是对内向的程序员来说，采用不拘礼节的面对面的交流，都比采用写在纸上的文档进行沟通效果要好。从成本和时间上来看，写文章总比在白板上讨论耗费更多的时间，而且沟通的效果也更差。
Written, reviewed requirements and design documents are "promises" for what will be built, serving as timed progress markers. There are times when creating them is good. However, a more accurate timed progress marker is running tested code. It is more accurate because it is not a timed promise, it is a timed accomplishment.
那些写好的而且评审过的需求和设计文档，只是"承诺"了要做什么，我们可以将其作为项目进度的标志 使用。有很多进度标志在最初设立时是好的。然而，更准确的进度标志应该是运行测试后的代码。因为这不是预先承诺的标志，而是真正完成的标志。
Recently, a bank''s IT group decided to take the above results at face value. They began a small project by simply putting three people into the same room and more or less leaving them alone. Surprisingly (to them), the team delivered the system in a fine, timely manner. The bank management team was a bit bemused. Surely it can''t be this simple?
最近，一个银行的IT部决定小试一下以上结果。他们启动一个小项目，使用简单的把三个人放在一个房间里的方法，让他们自生自灭。令人惊奇的是，这个小组及时的、优秀的发布了系统。银行的管理层觉得有点困惑。一定不会这么简单的吧？
It isn''t quite so simple. Another result of all those project interviews was that: different projects have different needs. Terribly obvious, except (somehow) to methodologists. Sure, if your project only needs 3 to 6 people, just put them into a room together. But if you have 45 or 100 people, that won''t work. If you have to pass Food & Drug Administration process scrutiny, you can''t get away with this. If you are going to shoot me to Mars in a rocket, I''ll ask you not to try it. We must remember factors such as team size and demands on the project, such as:
当然不是如此简单。另外一个采访了所有其他项目后得到的结论是：不同项目有不同的需要。这是非常明显的不依赖于方法论的（不知道怎的）。当然，如果你的项目只需要3到6个人，只要让他们在一个房间里就可以了。但如果你有45或者100个人，这就没用了。如果你要通过食物药品管理部门的过程检验，你就不能这样开始。如果你想把我用火箭发射到火星上去，我建议千万不要尝试。我们必须记住团队的大小和项目的需求这类因数：
As the number of people involved grows, so does the need to coordinate communications.
随着参与人数的增长，协调沟通的需求也更多
As the potential for damage increases, the need for public scrutiny increases, and the tolerance for personal stylistic variations decreases.
随潜在的破坏性的增长，对于公开检查的要求也在不断增加，而同时对由于个人风格的不同所导致差异的可容忍程度也在降低
Some projects depend on time-to-market and can tolerate defects (Web browsers being an example); other projects aim for traceability or legal liability protection.
一些项目依赖市场方面所确定的发布时间，而且对于一些缺陷能加以容忍（WEB浏览器就是这样一个例子）；其他的一些 项目致力于条理性和法律责任。
The result of collecting those factors is shown in Figure 6. The figure shows three factors that influence the selection of methodology: communications load (as given by staff size), system criticality, and project priorities.
根据收集到的有关因素总结出的结论如图Figure 6所示。它显示了影响选择不同方法论的三个因数：沟通难度（由成员的数量决定），系统关键程序，以及项目的优先级。
Figure 6 -- The family of Crystal methods.
Locate the segment of the X axis for the staff size (typically just the development team). For a distributed development project, move right one box to account for the loss of face-to-face communications.
根据成员数量确定在X轴上的部分（通常的只是开发组）。如果是一个分布的开发项目，因为面对面沟通的机会减少，向右移动一格。
On the Y axis, identify the damage effect of the system: loss of comfort, loss of "discretionary" monies, loss of "essential" monies (e.g., going bankrupt), or loss of life.
在Y轴上，确认系统损坏的影响：舒适程度下降，明显的经济损失，根本性的经济损失（比如破产），或者丧命。
The different planes behind the top layer reflect the different possible project priorities, whether it is time to market at all costs (such as in the first layer), productivity and tolerance (the hidden second layer), or legal liability (the hidden third layer). The box in the grid indicates the class of projects (for example, C6) with similar communications load and safety needs and can be used to select a methodology.
在顶层的不同的飞机（板块panel？）反映了各种项目的不同重点，所耗费的是否是上市时间（就象在第一层），效率和兼容性(隐藏的第二层)，或者法律责任（隐藏的第三层）.网格中的格子决定了在相似沟通难度和安全需求下的项目的类型（例如C6），你可以用来选择方法论。
The grid characterizes projects fairly objectively, useful for choosing a methodology. I have used it myself to change methodologies on a project as it shifted in size and complexity. There are, of course, many other factors, but these three determine methodology selection quite well.
这个网格显示了项目的特性，对选择一个方法论很有用。我自己在项目的大小和复杂程度改变的时候，用来改变我的方法论。当然还有其他的因素，但这三个用来决定选择什么方法论是很好的。
Suppose it is time to choose a methodology for the project. To benefit from the project interviews mentioned earlier, create the lightest methodology you can even imagine working for the cell in the grid, one in which person-to-person communication is enhanced as much as possible, and running tested code is the basic timing marker. The result is a light, habitable (meaning rather pleasant, as opposed to oppressive), effective methodology. Assign this methodology to C6 on the grid.
假定现在要选择项目的方法论。得益于上面所提到的对有关项目的访谈，你可以把建立一个最轻量级的方法论，想象成按照网格中的格子工作，在这里，尽量提高人和人之间的交流，运行测试后的代码是最基本的进度标志。结果是一个简单的，符合人的习惯的（意味着更让人愉快的，反对压抑人的）高效率的方法论。在网格上指定这个方法论到C6。
Repeating this for all the boxes produces a family of lightweight methods, related by their reliance on people, communication, and frequent delivery of running code. I call this family the Crystal Light family of methodologies. The family is segmented into vertical stripes by color (not shown in figure): The methodology for 2-6 person projects is Crystal Clear, for 6-20 person projects is Crystal Yellow, for 20-40 person projects is Crystal Orange, then Red, Magenta, Blue, etc.
重复这些所有的格子，产生一个轻量级的方法的家族，根据他们对人们的信心，沟通，和发布运行代码的频率。我叫这个家族为Crystal Light方法论族。这个家族用颜色（在图上没画）分成不同的竖直的条纹：2-6个人的项目的方法论叫 Crystal Clear ，6-20人的项目的方法论叫 Crystal Yellow , 20-40人的项目的方法论叫 Crystal Orange,然后是 Red，Magenta，Blue，等等。
Shifts in the vertical axis can be thought of as "hardening" of the methodology. A life-critical 2-6-person project would use "hardened" Crystal Clear, and so on. What surprises me is that the project interviews are showing rather little difference in the hardness requirement, up to life-critical projects.
垂直方向间的切换在方法学上被称为强化。一个短生命期的2到6个人的项目应该使用强化了的Crystal Clear或其派生方法来管理。使我惊喜的是，在这样的 项目中几乎看不到增加需求和按时完成项目之间的矛盾。
Crystal Clear is documented in a forthcoming book, currently in draft form on the Web. Crystal Orange is outlined in the methodology chapter of Surviving Object-Oriented Projects (see Editor''s note below).
Crystal Clear出自一本即将出版的书，现在网上已经有草稿。在《Surviving Object-Oriented Projects》一书的方法论一章中描述了Crystal Orange的轮廓。
Having worked with the Crystal Light methods for several years now, I found a few more surprises.
在采用Crystal Light方法多年以后，现在我发现了更多的惊喜。
The first surprise is just how little process and control a team actually needs to thrive (this is thrive , not merely survive). It seems that most people are interested in being good citizens and in producing a quality product, and they use their native cognitive and communications abilities to accomplish this. This matches Jim''s conclusions about adaptive software development (see Resources and References, page 15). You need one notch less control than you expect, and less is better when it comes to delivering quickly.
第一个惊喜是，一个开发队伍成功（不仅仅是幸存）并不需要太多的管理和控制。大部分开发人员都乐于专心工作和写出好的软件，他们会使用自己的理解能力和沟通能力去 完成这一切。这和Jim做出的关于自适应软件开发的结论完全一致(参见"资源和参考"，第15页)。你需要比你预计的要少得多的控制，尤其是当你希望能尽快发布软件时，越 少就越好。
More specifically, when Jim and I traded notes on project management, we found we had both observed a critical success element of project management: that team members understand and communicate their work dependencies. They can do this in lots of simple, low-tech, low-overhead ways. It is often not necessary to introduce tool-intensive work products to manage it.
更特别的是，当我和Jim交换项目管理的心得时，我们意识到我们都观察到了成功的项目管理中的一个关键要素：开发人员能理解有关人员的工作并加以沟通。他们能通过 许多简单、低技术含量并且廉价的方法完成这一切。通常这并不需要引入什么特别的工具来管理。
Oh, but it is necessary to introduce two more things into the project: trust and communication .
不过项目中还是需要两个关键要素：信任和沟通。
A project that is short on trust is in trouble in more substantial ways than just the weight of the methodology. To the extent that you can enhance trust and communication, you can reap the benefits of Crystal Clear, XP, and the other lightweight methods.
在一个项目中，缺乏信任比选择了错误的方法学更要命。从某种程度上讲，只要你能加强信任和沟通，你就一定能受益于Crystal Clear，XP（极限编程 ？）或别的轻量级开发方法。
The second surprise with defining the Crystal Light methods was XP. I had designed Crystal Clear to be the least bureaucratic methodology I could imagine. Then XP showed up in the same place on the grid and made Clear look heavy! What was going on?
第二个惊喜是当我们定义Cystal Light方法的时候它就和XP一致了。我把Crystal Clear设计成我所能想象的最不官僚的方法学。随后XP在 同一领域出现并展露锋芒，在它面前Clear仿佛成了重量级的开发方法！这是怎么一回事？
It turns out that Beck had found another knob to twist on the methodology control panel: discipline. To the extent that a team can increase its internal discipline and consistency of action, it can lighten its methodology even more. The Crystal Light family is predicated on allowing developers the maximum individual preference. XP is predicated on having everyone follow tight, disciplined practices:
这大概是因为Beck发现了方法学的控制面板上的另一个开关：纪律。在某种程度，如果一个开发小组能增强内部的纪律性并保证行动的一致性，方法学可以变得更加 轻巧。Crystal Light衍生的方法学给予开发者最多的个性化。XP则要求每个人都遵守严格的有纪律的实践：
Everyone follows a tight coding standard.
每个人都必须遵守一个严格的编码标准。
The team forms a consensus on what is "better" code, so that changes converge and don''t just bounce around.
关于什么是好的代码, 开发小组在此方面应达成共识，这样所有的变化都集中在一起，避免了反复。
Unit tests exist for all functions, and they always pass at 100%.
每个函数都必须经过单元测试，并且必须100%通过。
All production code is written by two people working together.
所有产品的代码都是由两名开发人员一起工作完成的
Tested function is delivered frequently, in the two- to four- week range.
以每两周到四周为一个周期, 频繁地发布那些经过测试的函数，。
In other words, Crystal Clear illustrates and XP magnifies the core principle of light methods:
换一句话说，Crystal Clear展示了轻量级方法的核心法则，而XP放大了它：
Intermediate work products can be reduced and project delivery enhanced, to the extent that team communications are improved and frequency of delivery increased.
在一定程度上，如果开发队伍的交流得到了改善，发布的频率得到提高，那么就可以减少中间产品的工作量，从而能更快地完成项目。
XP and Crystal Clear are related to each other in these ways:
XP和Crystal Clear有如下关联：
XP pursues greater productivity through increased discipline, but it is harder for a team to follow.
XP通过增强纪律性提高生产效率，但是它对于开发者更难于遵守。
Crystal Clear permits greater individuality within the team and more relaxed work habits in exchange for some loss in productivity.
Crystal Clear给予开发者更多的个性空间，允许比较松散的工作习惯，但是同时损失了一些生产效率。
Crystal Clear may be easier for a team to adopt, but XP produces better results if the team can follow it.
开发队伍可以比较轻松地使用Crystal Clear方法，但是如果能够有效地使用XP，效果会更好。
A team can start with Crystal Clear and move itself to XP. A team that falls off XP can back up to Crystal Clear.
开发队伍可以从Crystal Clear开始，然后转移到XP方法。开发队伍也可以放弃XP，重新使用Crystal Clear。
Although there are differences in Crystal Clear and XP, the fundamental values are consistent -- simplicity, communications, and minimal formality.
尽管Crystal Clear和Xp之间存在很多差异，但是它们的基本价值观是一致的--简单、交流和尽量减少形式化。
Editor''s note: For more information on the Crystal Clear methodology, see Alistair Cockburn''s Web site, listed in the References and Resources section. For more information on Crystal Orange, it is covered in the book Surviving Object-Oriented Projects , also listed in the References and Resources section.
编者按：如果你想深入了解Crystal Clear，请看"相关资源与引用"部分列出的Alistair Cockburn的网站，在。如果你想深入了解 Crystal Orange，你可以参阅《Surviving Object-Oriented Projects》一书，同样有关信息在"相关资源与引用"部分也已列出。
Conclusions: Going to Extremes
结论：走向极限
Orr and Cockburn each describe their approaches and experience with lighter methodologies. But earlier, in describing Chrysler''s C3 project, I alluded to the difficulty in extending the use of approaches like XP or even RAD. In every survey we have done of eAD subscribers, and every survey conducted of software organizations in general, respondents rate reducing delivery time as a critical initiative. But it is not just initial delivery that is critical. Although Amazon.com may have garnered an advantage by its early entry in the online bookstore market, it has maintained leadership by continuous adaptation to market conditions -- which means continuous changes to software.
Orr 和 Cockburn 都描述了他们的轻量级方法和经验。但在前面描述Chrysler的 C3 项目时，我间接的提到，扩展使用类似XP或者甚至是RAD的方法都存在着困难。在我们 对eAD的订阅者所做的所有调查以及所有软件组织的行为调查中，一般说来，快速的响应 速度，减少发布时间是一个关键的开始。但这并不是说只有首次发布才是关键的。虽然 Amazon.com 因为更早进入网上书店市场而拥有优势，但它为了维持它的领导地位，必须 持续不断的适应市场条件----这意味着软件的持续更改。
Deliver quickly. Change quickly. Change often. These three driving forces, in addition to better software tools, compel us to rethink traditional software engineering practices -- not abandon the practices, but rethink them. XP, for example, doesn''t ask us to abandon good software engineering practices. It does, however, ask us to consider closely the absolute minimum set of practices that enable a small, co-located team to function effectively in today''s software delivery environment.
快速发布.快速修改.频繁变更.通过这三者的驱动，加上更好的软件工具，迫使我们重新 思考传统的软件工程实践----并不是放弃它们，而是对其重新加以思考。例如，XP 并没有 要我们抛弃好的软件工程实践。相反，它要求我们去深入地思考，在 当今软件发布环境下，小型协作团队能够高效运作所需的最低环境要求有哪些。
Cockburn made the observation that implementation of XP (at least as Beck and Jeffries define it) requires three key environmental features: inexpensive inter-face changes, close communications, and automated regression testing. Rather than asking "How do I reduce the cost of change?" XP, in effect, postulates a low-change cost environment and then says, "This is how we will work." For example, rather than experience the delays of a traditional relational database environment (and dealing with multiple outside groups), the C3 project used GemStone, an OO database.
Cockburn 观察发现，XP（至少按照Beck和Jeffries所定义的那样）的实现至少需要三个 环境特征：界面修改不会带来昂贵的的代价，更密切的交流和自动的回归测试。实际上 XP 不是问"我该如何降低变更带来的成本"，而是要求一个低更改成本的环境，然后说"我们将这样工作"。例如， C3项目使用面向对象数据库GemStone，而不是去使用传统关系数据库（以及 和多个外部组打交道）。
Some might argue that this approach is cheating, but that is the point. For example, Southwest Airlines created a powerhouse by reducing costs -- using a single type of aircraft (Boeing 737s). If turbulence and change are the norm, then perhaps the right question may be: how do we create an environment in which the cost (and time) of change is minimized? Southwest got to expand without an inventory of "legacy" airplanes, so its answer might be different than American Airline''s answer, but the question remains an important one.
有些人也许会说这种方法是欺骗，确实如此。例如，西南航空公司在创建动力室时，使用 同一种类型的飞机（波音737）来降低成本。如果湍流和改变都是标准的，那么正确 的问题可能就是：我们如何创建一个导致最低变更成本（和时间）的环境？西南航空公司在扩 张时，没有遗留的飞机存货。对于美国航空公司来说，这个问题的答案也许会不同，但是 它仍然是个重要的问题。
There are five key ideas to take away from this discussion of XP and light methods:
在这个关于XP和轻量方法的讨论中，我们能得到如下五个主要观点：
For projects that must be managed in high-speed, high-change environments, we need to reexamine software development practices and the assumptions behind them.
对于那些处于飞速变化环境中的项目而言，我们需要重新检视有关的软件开发实践以及与之对应的有关假定。
Practices such as refactoring, simplicity, and collaboration (pair programming, metaphor, collective ownership) prompt us to think in new ways.
类似于重构、简单化和合作（配对编程，隐喻，代码共享）等实践促使我们以一种新思路来思考。
We need to rethink both how to reduce the cost of change in our existing environments and how to create new environments that minimize the cost of change.
我们不仅需要重新思考如何在现有环境中降低变更导致的成本，而且还需要重新考虑如何创造一个新的环境, 从而能够将变更成本降到最低。
In times of high change, the ability to refactor code, data, and whole applications becomes a critical skill.
在频繁变动中，对代码, 数据以及整个应用重构的能力将会成为一项关键的技能。
Matching methods to the project, relying on people first and documentation later, and minimizing formality are methods geared to change and speed.
将方法应用到项目中去时，先依赖人，再依赖文档，尽量减少形式化的东西，从而有效地将方法与项目相结合
Editor''s Musings
编者的沉思（编后语）
Extreme rules! In the middle of writing this issue, I received the 20 December issue of BusinessWeek magazine, which contains the cover story, "Xtreme Retailing," about "brick" stores fighting back against their "click" cousins. If we can have extreme retailing, why not Extreme Programming?
极端的规则。在写这篇文章的过程中，我曾经收到12月20日发行的商业周刊杂志。其中有 一个封面故事，"极端零售"，关于"brick"商店反击它们的堂兄弟"click"。如果我们可以 有极端零售，为什么不极端编程呢。
Refactoring, design patterns, comprehensive unit testing, pair programming -- these are not the tools of hackers. These are the tools of developers who are exploring new ways to meet the difficult goals of rapid product delivery, low defect levels, and flexibility. Writing about quality, Beck says, "The only possible values are ''excellent'' and ''insanely excellent,'' depending on whether lives are at stake or not" and "runs the tests until they pass (100% correct)." You might accuse XP practitioners of being delusional, but not of being poor-quality-oriented hackers.
重构，设计模式，对单元测试的充分理解，配对编程----这些都不是黑客们的工具。它们是开发者 们为了解决产品快速发布，同时又能保持较少的缺陷和灵活性时探索出的新方法。关于质量，Beck说，"只有两种情况下是有价值的：''优秀''或者''极其优秀''，这取决于其对软件产品生存的影响程度"，以及 "执行测试直到它们通过（100％正确）"。你也许可以指责XP的实践者是受到了蒙蔽，但是他们决不是那种不重视质量的黑客。
To traditional methodology proponents, reducing time-to-market is considered the enemy of quality. However, I''ve seen some very slow development efforts produce some very poor-quality software, just as I''ve seen speedy efforts produce poor-quality software. Although there is obviously some relationship between time and quality, I think it is a much more complicated relationship than we would like to think.
对于传统方法的支持者来说，缩短发布时间是质量的敌人。然而，我看过一些开发速度 很慢而且质量非常差的软件，就象我看过的另一些开发速度很快但质量低下的软件一样。虽然在时间 和质量间存在一些明显的联系，但我认为这个联系比我们一般所想象的要的复杂的多。
Traditional methodologies were developed to build software in environments characterized by low to moderate levels of change and reasonably predictable desired outcomes. However, the business world is no longer very predictable, and software requirements change at rates that swamp traditional methods. "The bureaucracy and inflexibility of organizations like the Software Engineering Institute and practices such as CMM are making them less and less relevant to today''s software development issues," remarks Bob Charette, who originated the practices of lean development for software.
传统方法可用于开发那些变化程度不大并可预期最终结果的软件.然而，商业世界却是变化莫测的，并且传统开发方法已无法满现在的快速变化软件需求的要求。轻量级软件开发实践的创始人Bob Charette认为"由于软件工程研究所(SEI)这样组织的官僚化、顽固性，以及诸如CMM的实践，使得他们日益脱离当今的软件开发。
As Beck points out in the introduction to his book, the individual practices of XP are drawn from well-known, well-tested, traditional practices. The principles driving the use of these practices, along with the integrative nature of using a specific minimal set of practices, make XP a novel solution to modern software development problems.
就象Beck在他书中所写的简介中指出的一样，XP中的各个独立实践，都是从著名的，经过很好的测试 的，传统实践中抽取出来的。这些原则驱动着实践的使用，与一个特别的实践最小集自然的一 体化在一起，使得XP成为一个解决现代软件开发问题的新方案。
But I must end with a cautionary note. None of these new practices has much history. Their successes are anecdotal, rather than studied and measured. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that our turbulent e-business economy requires us to revisit how we develop and manage software delivery. While new, these approaches offer alternatives well worth considering.
但是我必须以一条警告来做结束语。所有的这些新实践都没有很长的历史，它们的成功就象 逸事一样，没有被加以研究和度量。然而我坚信，我们混乱的电子商务经济需要我们重新审视 如何开发和管理软件发布。这些方法虽然很新，但它们提供了有价值的另一条思路。
In the coming year, we will no doubt see more in print on XP. Beck, Jeffries, Fowler, and Cunningham are working in various combinations with others to publish additional books on XP, so additional information on practices, management philosophy, and project examples will be available.
明年，我们毫无疑问地可以看到更多关于XP的出版物，Beck, Jeffries, Fowler和Cunningham 都在相互合作出版更多关于XP的书。因此，你将看到更多的关于实践的信息，管理哲学和项目 实例等。
Finally, a note on how to continue the discussion of XP and other "extremes": as I announced in the previous issue, we have initiated an eAD discussion forum. If you are interested in joining the group, send us an e-mail at ead@cutter.com , and we will add you to the discussion group and send logon information.
最后，一个关于如何继续XP和其他"极端事物"讨论的提示：就象我在前面讨论中宣布的那样， 我们创建了一个eAD论坛。如果你对加入这个小组感兴趣，给我们发email到 ead@cutter.com， 我们将把你加入这个讨论组，并且会把登录信息发送给你。
