''Why is it called Extreme '' -- ThinkingOutLoud DonaldNoyes 20071020
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'''''If one is to apply Extreme Methodologies, it would be well to note in what way it is extreme and what advantage one might gain by its employment.'''''

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'''''Some questions which might help in discovering why is it called Extreme:'''''

'''Is it Extreme because it :'''
* ''is different?''
* ''depends upon high levels of skill and experience belonging to those who propose it and those who practice it?''
* ''breaks new ground or employs bleeding edge technology?''
* ''ignores generally accepted approaches or expands and amplifies them?''
* ''has no original strict plan or original strict roadmap?''
* ''owns and changes its schedule?''
* ''promises frequent interim releases?''
* ''responds immediately to changes in requirements with adaptations tested to meet them?''
* ''is a radical departure from normal SoftwareDevelopment?''
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'''''Some answers and developments:'''''

'''It takes practices further than before'''

By analogy with the HistoryOfExtremeProgramming's "turn all the knobs to ten", perhaps a practice is extreme when you take it further than it's previously been practiced. For example, rather than working toward a handful of alpha and beta test milestones, you practice SmallReleases. Rather than integrate weekly, you practice ContinuousIntegration. Rather than periodic code reviews, you practice PairProgramming.

''Indeed. An un-cited entry on Wikipedia suggests it's called "Extreme" because it "takes 'best practices' to extreme levels."''  See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Programming

'''It borrows the term from "Extreme Sports" to attract the young'''

My suspicion is that it borrowed "extreme" from the "extreme sports" movement as a buzzword gimmick to attract young people to the movement.

''Naw. XP didn't just borrow from "extreme sports"; it '''is''' an extreme sport: http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Extreme_Programming.''

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The term has been so over used by marketing that it is rapidly loosing meaning.  I saw an Extreme Toothpaste at the grocery store.  The same store was holding and Extreme Sale (the mark-down was 25%.  Now, maybe 25% was extreme for this particular store, but it certainly wasn't extreme in context of normal sales.)  It is a term addopted by the X and/or Y Generations.  They are the prime buyers, now, so marketers have gone overboard using the Extreme label to get their attention. -- BrucePennington
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CategoryExtremeProgrammingDiscussion