The XP question

What can you tell me about XP?

That's the question.

Take a moment to think about it.

What thoughts immediately pop into your head?

What words would you use if I was an alien and you were telling me about XP?
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Pair Programming is a common first choice. Also common are Testing (TDD), Refactoring, Collective Ownership. These are all fine things but notice that they're all directly related to the code. Programming the code in pairs, testing the code, refactoring the code, ownership of the code.

When I'm coaching or consulting I often ask the XP question. The overwhelmingly most common replies relate to the technical practices and not to the underlying values. I think that's a shame. I feel my understanding of XP's technical practices became much deeper when I thought about them in the light of XP's values.

Can you name the Four XP Values?
That's what the question is really about.
Can you name one XP Value?
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If you did name a value what was it?
Was it Simplicity or Feedback, the values with a technical aspect?
Or was it Courage or Communication, the values with a stronger social focus?

Reading chapter 7 of Kent's book it's clear to me that the four values are core to XP. Kent writes (my emphasis)...

We need some criteria for telling us if we're going in the right direction... Short term individual goals often conflict with long-term social goals. Societies have learned to deal with this problem by developing shared sets of values... Without these values, humans tend to revert back to their own short-term best interest.

The four values - communication, simplicity, feedback, and courage... tell us how software development should feel.

How you should feel!
Do those words surprise you?
How do you feel about your answer to the XP question?