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Recommended Scrum Books on
Automation

Whether you are thinking about starting Agile or Scrum, have just begun, or have hit a wall after starting, you likely find yourself searching for online articles, documents, and books for guidance.

In this article, we introduce books that are particularly valuable for "Developers (Engineers and Programmers) within a Scrum Team."

In particular, we present a selection of books that are essential reading for anyone looking to effectively integrate "automation" into their Scrum development process.

Recommended Scrum Books on Automation

"Does your organization align its overall team goals with its personnel evaluation criteria as two sides of the same coin?
If your organization rewards programming and architectural work at the expense of testing, test automation, and user documentation, the answer is 'No.'"

As noted in Michael James's ScrumMaster Checklist, automation itself is not explicitly defined within Scrum. However, to produce a potentially releasable increment every Sprint, test automation is effectively essential.

Michael James

A Seattle-based Scrum expert, Michael James was certified as a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST®) in 2006 by Ken Schwaber, the co-creator of Scrum.

He is the creator of some of the world's most popular online learning resources for Scrum, including the Scrum Reference Card and the ScrumMaster Checklist. These resources have been translated by volunteers into over ten languages—including Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German, and French—supporting teams across the globe.

■ Resources:
Scrum Training Series
Scrum Reference Card
ScrumMaster Checklist


Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation By Jez Humble and David Farley

Famous for the provocative question, "How long will you keep deploying manually?", this book is the definitive guide to automating build, deployment, test, and release processes. It is essential reading in an era where continuous release is the norm.

The book is organized into three parts, covering everything from fundamentals to the delivery ecosystem.

Part I: Foundations
  • The problem of software delivery, configuration management, continuous integration (CI), and implementing a testing strategy
Part II: The Deployment Pipeline
  • Anatomy of the deployment pipeline, build and deployment scripting, commit stage, automated acceptance testing, testing non-functional requirements, and managing releases
Part III: The Delivery Ecosystem
  • Infrastructure and environment management, data management, components and dependency management, advanced version control, and managing continuous delivery
■ About the Author

Jez Humble

A long-time veteran of ThoughtWorks since 2004, working across major global hubs. With a diverse academic background in physics, philosophy, and ethnomusicology, he is currently based in San Francisco.


Ant in Action: Covers Ant 1.7 By Steve Loughran and Erik Hatcher

This book introduces Ant and how to use it for test-driven Java application development. It explores how applications evolve and addresses build and test challenges within increasingly complex projects.
The coverage of large-scale projects, advanced Ant features, and the depth of technical discussion make this a vital resource for understanding build automation.

■ Key Topics Covered

  • Managing large projects, Library management, Enterprise Java, Continuous Integration (CI), Deployment, and Writing new Ant tasks and datatypes

■ About the Author

Steve Loughran

An active Ant user and developer since 2000, a project committer since 2001, and an Apache Software Foundation member since 2004. He is an expert in large-scale system builds and distributed testing.

Erik Hatcher

An active Ant project developer and co-author of 'Lucene in Action'. He is a prolific contributor to open-source projects including Lucene and XDoclet, and a regular writer for technical publications.


Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk By Paul Duvall, Stephen Matyas, and Andrew Glover

For developers who have spent days in 'Integration Hell,' this book demonstrates how to transform integration from a necessary evil into a non-event and a routine part of the development process.

With over 40 CI-related practices, it covers database integration, testing, inspection, deployment, and feedback loops. Implementing these practices leads to faster development, creates deployable software at every stage, and significantly reduces the cost of defect discovery.

■ What This Book Covers

  • Making integration a 'non-event,' reducing repetitive build processes, effective techniques for CI usage, and mitigating risks of low visibility or non-deployable software

■ About the Author

Paul M. Duvall

CEO of Stelligent and a Jolt Award-winning author. He is passionate about automating the software release process and has contributed extensively to the industry through IBM developerWorks and global conferences.

Stephen M. Matyas III

Vice President of AutomateIT. He brings an extensive background in applied software engineering, specializing in Enterprise Java and custom software development services.

Andrew Glover

President of Stelligent. A frequent speaker at technology conferences across North America and a prolific author of books and articles on software automation.


Pragmatic Project Automation: How To Build, Deploy, And Monitor Java Apps By Mike Clark

Forget the wizards—you need a 'slave' to handle repetitive, boring tasks without complaint. That is what computers are for. By automating chores, you free up more time to design and write exciting code.

From individual builds and unit tests to full product releases and system monitoring, this book shows you how to make your computer do the heavy lifting. Using popular open-source tools, you can transform labor-intensive chores into seamless background processes.

■ What You Will Learn

  • Making builds accurate and fast, building complex systems at the touch of a button, automatic software delivery without human intervention, tool selection strategies, and 'tricks from the masters' like mobile build failure notifications.

■ About the Author

By Mike Clark

An author, speaker, and most importantly, a programmer. Creator of popular open-source tools like JUnitPerf and JDepend, he has been professionally developing software since 1992 across aerospace, telecom, and finance sectors.


Odd-e Japan offers Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD®) training,
where you can gain hands-on experience in
integrating automation into your development process.

What is Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD®) Training?
■ Overview
This is a systematic education and certification program created by Scrum Alliance® to develop professionals who can collaborate correctly and efficiently as Scrum team members.
It certifies that your understanding of Scrum principles and your ability to collaborate in practice meet the standards set by Scrum Alliance®.

■ Learn more
Apply for Odd-e Japan Training
What is Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD®) Training?


We also offer Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) training led by Michael James, the creator of the ScrumMaster Checklist. Odd-e Japan is the exclusive provider in Japan where you can experience his highly-regarded, practical approach to the foundations of Scrum.

What is Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) Training?
■ Overview
This program focuses on using Scrum as a framework for hypothesis testing in product development. Candidates are evaluated by a CST® for registration with Scrum Alliance®. It is a rigorous environment for learning, not a place to simply 'buy' a certification.

■ Training Style
Centered on case studies and deep discussion. While the focus is on ScrumMastery, the content is highly beneficial for team members, Product Owners, and stakeholders alike.

■ Learn more
What is Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) Training?

Michael James

A Seattle-based Scrum expert, Michael James was certified as a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST®) in 2006 by Ken Schwaber, the co-creator of Scrum.

He is the creator of some of the world's most popular online learning resources for Scrum, including the Scrum Reference Card and the ScrumMaster Checklist. These resources have been translated by volunteers into over ten languages—including Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, German, and French—supporting teams across the globe.

He is a coach and CST® with deep expertise in engineering practices such as TDD, refactoring, CI, and pair programming. A software architect since the late 1970s, he has built mission-critical systems for aircraft and spacecraft. If you have ever flown, you have likely relied on software he helped build.

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