Extreme Programming and Agile Processes in Software Engineering

Software development is being revolutionized. The heavy-weight processes of the 1980s and 1990s are being replaced by light-weight, so called agile processes. Agile processes move the focus of software development back to what really matters: running software. This is only made possible by accepting that software developmentisacreativejobdoneby,with,andforindividualhumanbeings.For this reason, agile software development encourages interaction, communication, and fun. This was the focus of the Fifth International Conference on Extreme P- grammingandAgileProcessesinSoftwareEngineeringwhichtookplacebetween June 6 and June 10, 2004 at the conference center in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the foot of the Bavarian Alps near Munich, Germany. In this way the conference provided a unique forum for industry and academic professionals to discuss their needs and ideas for incorporating Extreme Programming and Agile Metho- logies into their professional life under consideration of the human factor. We celebrated this year s conference by re?ecting on what we had achieved in the last half decade and we also focused on the challenges we will face in the near future.