Kent Beck
Kent Beck | |
|---|---|
 Beck at a workshop in 2006 | |
| Born | 1961 (age 64–65) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon |
| Known for | Extreme programming, Software design patterns, JUnit |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Software engineering |
| Institutions | Gusto |
| Website | kentbeck |
Kent Beck (born 1961) is an American software engineer, author, and consultant best known for creating test-driven development (TDD), founding extreme programming[1] (XP), and co-creating the JUnit testing framework.[2] He was one of the seventeen original signatories of the Agile Manifesto,[1] the founding document for agile software development.
Biography
[edit]Beck attended the University of Oregon between 1979 and 1987, receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer and information science.[3]
In 1996 Beck was hired to work on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System, the corporation's payroll system.[4] Beck in turn brought in Ron Jeffries.[5] At the time, Chrysler was using the waterfall method of software programming and the development process was running behind deadlines. Beck directed his team to adopt a different approach: they divided the project into smaller tasks, programed in pairs, and frequently tested and updated their code.[4][6] Beck called the approach extreme programming (XP), developing 12 principles and publishing a book called Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change in 1999.[1] Ultimately, the project was not completed, but it showed the viability of the XP style of programming.[5] Some of the principles of XP were later included in agile methodology.[6] Test-driven development (TDD) is an important element of XP.[6][7][8] Beck published Test Driven Development: By Example in 2003.[8] According to Beck, he "rediscovered" TDD in an older programming book.[8]
Beck released JUnit, a Java testing framework, in 2000 with Erich Gamma.[9]
In February 2001, Beck was among seventeen software practitioners who gathered in Snowbird, Utah, and signed the Agile Manifesto — a statement of values and principles intended to make software development more efficient and provide an alternative to heavyweight planning-driven development methodologies.[4] Beck was a primary author of the manifesto's emphasis on individuals and interactions over processes and tools, and on responding to change over following a plan.[citation needed]
Beck worked at Facebook between 2011 and 2018.[4][10] In 2019, Beck joined Gusto as a software fellow and coach, where he coached engineering teams as they build out payroll systems for small businesses.[4][10]
Publications
[edit]Books
[edit]- 1996. Kent Beck's Guide to Better Smalltalk: A Sorted Collection. Cambridge University Press. (ISBN 978-0521644372)
- 1997. Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns. Prentice Hall. (ISBN 978-0134769042)
- 1999. Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code. Addison-Wesley. With Martin Fowler, John Brant, William Opdyke, Don Roberts. (ISBN 978-0201485677)
- 1999. Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change. Addison-Wesley. Winner of the Jolt Productivity Award. (ISBN 978-0321278654)
- 2000. Planning Extreme Programming. With Martin Fowler. Addison-Wesley. (ISBN 978-0201710915)
- 2002. Test-Driven Development by Example. Addison-Wesley. Winner of the Jolt Productivity Award. (ISBN 978-0321146533)
- 2003. Contributing to Eclipse: Principles, Patterns, and Plugins. With Erich Gamma. Addison-Wesley. (ISBN 978-0321205759)
- 2004. JUnit Pocket Guide. O'Reilly. (ISBN 978-0596007430)
- 2004. Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change, 2nd Edition. With Cynthia Andres. Addison-Wesley. Completely rewritten. (ISBN 978-0201616415)
- 2007. Implementation Patterns. Addison-Wesley. (ISBN 978-0321413093)
- 2023. Tidy First?: A Personal Exercise in Empirical Software Design. O'Reilly. (ISBN 978-1098151249)
Selected papers
[edit]- 1987. "Using Pattern Languages for Object-Oriented Programs". With Ward Cunningham. OOPSLA'87.
- 1989. "A Laboratory For Teaching Object-Oriented Thinking". With Ward Cunningham. OOPSLA'89.
- 1989. "Simple Smalltalk Testing: With Patterns". SUnit framework, origin of xUnit frameworks.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Copeland, Lee (December 3, 2001). "Extreme Programming". Computerworld. Archived from the original on September 10, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
- ↑ Beck, Kent; Gamma, Erich (July 1998). "Test Infected: Programmers Love Writing Tests". Java Report. 3 (7): 37–50.
- ↑ Beck, Kent. "Kent Beck". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Meet the influential programmer who's helping $3.8 billion Gusto make sure that its software always stays ahead of the times". Business Insider. September 4, 2019.
- 1 2 Highsmith, Jim, ed. (February 18, 2024). Agile Software Development Ecosystems. Addison-Wesley Professional. pp. 166–167. ISBN 978-0-201-76043-9.
- 1 2 3 Xu, Tammy (March 9, 2022). "Extreme Programming: A Deep Dive". Built In. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
- ↑ "What Is Test Driven Development (TDD)? A Guide". Built In. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
- 1 2 3 Smalley, Ian; Schneider, Josh (July 3, 2025). "What is Test-Driven Development (TDD)?". IBM. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
- ↑ "Java at 20: How it changed programming forever". Computerworld. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
- 1 2 "Kent Beck Says Tech Has a Compassion Problem". Built In. August 19, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
External links
[edit]
- KentBeck on the WikiWikiWeb
- Sample chapter of Kent's book, IMPLEMENTATION PATTERNS
- TalkWare Podcast interview with Kent Beck
- FLOSS Weekly interview with Kent Beck
- Kent Beck's Notes at Facebook
- Kent Beck on unit testing
- Being Human Podcast - A conversation with Kent Beck
- Kent Beck website
- Kent Joins Gusto
