Overview
Great software development using Scrum and today's Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) tools requires the seamless integration of the tool, a well-functioning team, and software development best practices. Professional Scrum Developer is the only course available that teaches how this is done.
The Professional Scrum Developer course teaches students how to work in a team, using modern software engineering practices and your specific technology platform to develop an increment of potentially releasable functionality. All of this is done as iterative incremental development within the Scrum framework.
The course is currently available for .NET and Java. Classes are exercise-driven, with students working in self-organizing teams to develop “done” increments from a realistic product backlog. The fully integrated course is five days long (PSD+), but a shorter 3-day version (PSD) is available for people who already have substantial Scrum knowledge.
The .NET version of the Professional Scrum Developer course was developed in partnership with Microsoft and is the official training solution for Microsoft Visual Studio.
Like with all Scrum.org courses, the curriculum and materials are standardized and regularly enhanced through contributions from the Scrum.org network of Professional Scrum Trainers. Only the most qualified instructors--people with top-notch skills in the technologies for this course coupled with excellent knowledge of how to use them within the Scrum framework--are selected to deliver the Professional Scrum Developer course. Each instructor brings his or her individual experiences and areas of expertise to bear, but all students learn the same core course content. This improves students' ability to pass the Professional Scrum Developer assessment and apply Scrum in their workplaces.
Professional Scrum Developer is available as a 3-day course (PSD) and as a 5-day course (PSD+).
Audience
The Professional Scrum Developer course is suitable for any member of a software development team, including architects, programmers, database developers, testers, and others with some technical knowledge. (See prerequisites below.)
Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and other stakeholders are welcome to attend this class so long as they keep in mind that everyone who attends will be expected to fully participate on their development team.
Syllabus
All Professional Scrum Developer courses cover three main topics:
- Scrum. The course simulates being part of a Scrum team to expose students to the core Scrum concepts in action. Students learn how to work as part of a Scrum team, which requires them to understand techniques for self-organization. Through the course students develop skills in identifying and overcoming common Scrum Team dysfunctions.
- Tools. PSD courses teach students how to leverage different development tools to employ Scrum practices. PSD and PSD+ .NET courses are taught in the context of Visual Studio 2010 using either the Visual Studio Scrum 1.0 template or MSF/Agile process template, while PSD Java courses are taught in the context of either Eclipse + IBM Rational Jazz or Eclipse + Open Source tools. Students learn how to map specific tool features and functions to the general Scrum practices they must use to be effective team members.
- Best Practices. PSD courses cover all of the technical practices that team members need to successfully implement and ship functionality. These include coding practices like test-driven development, continuous integration, and refactoring; architecture practices such as emergent architecture and evolutionary database development; release management practices like planning, requirements definition, and shipment; and quality assurance practices from defining "done" to pair programming, version control and acceptance testing.
You can learn more about the topics covered in each course by viewing a comparison chart that looks at the differences between the PSD (3-day) and PSD+ (5-day) courses for both .NET and Java.
Topics covered in .NET courses |
Topics covered in Java courses
Assessment and Certification
Unlike other Scrum certifications that require only class attendance, Scrum.org certification requires a minimum score on an online assessment. The Professional Scrum Developer assessments measure knowledge of how to develop software using Scrum, and the practices and techniques that high-performing teams typically use.
At present, the Professional Scrum Developer I assessment and certification is open only to those who have taken a Professional Scrum Developer course. There is no fee for assessment beyond the fee for a Professional Scrum Developer course. Assessment is currently based on the body of knowledge contained in the courseware. Once the body of knowledge has been formalized as a Scrum Developer Guide, the assessment will be open to the public and anyone – including those who have not taken a Professional Scrum Developer course – will be able to assess themselves.
If you complete a Professional Scrum Developer course you will receive a password to take the associated assessment two times within a 14-day period following the course. If you pass the assessment you will receive the industry-recognized "PSD I" certification and your name will be posted on this website.
Course Prerequisites and Expectations of Students
These vary depending on which Professional Scrum Developer course you take. All students should come into a course having:
- Studied the Scrum Guide (a deeper understanding of Scrum is needed for a 3-day course*)
- Some software testing experience
- Experience with the technologies listed below:
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.NET Courses
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Java Courses
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- C#, .NET 4.0 & ASP.NET 4.0 experience (discuss exact technologies with instructor)
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- Eclipse IDE for Java or another Java IDE (discuss exact technologies with instructor)
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- SQL Server 2008 development experience is beneficial for the PSD+ (5-day) course
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- Understanding of relational databases is beneficial
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*Scrum fundamentals are covered in the 5-day versions of the course, but they are not included in the 3-day versions of the course. The shorter course is designed for students who have a solid understanding of Scrum either through working on a Scrum Team or through taking part in a Professional Scrum Foundations course.
Other things to keep in mind:
- Professional Scrum Developer is a unique course in that it is technically‐focused, team‐based, and employs timeboxes. It demands that the members of the teams self‐organize and self‐manage their own work to collaboratively develop increments of software.
- This is a technical training class being delivered to teams of developers, not pairs, and not individuals. Ideally, your actual software development team will attend the training to ensure that all necessary skills are covered. However, if you wish to attend an open enrollment course alone or with a few colleagues, realize that you may be placed on a team with other attendees. The instructor will do his or her best to ensure that each team is cross-functional to tackle the case study, but there are no guarantees. You may be required to try a new role, learn a new skill, or pair with somebody unfamiliar to you. This is just one of many examples of how the PSD course simulates reality in the classroom.
Register for a public Professional Scrum Developer course or contact us to inquire about a private course for your organization.