What Is Agile Development and Scrum? A Guide for the IT Passport Exam, with Comparisons to Waterfall

What Is Agile Development?

Agile development is an umbrella term for development methodologies that repeat short cycles of "design → implementation → testing → release" to flexibly respond to change. Originating from the "Agile Software Development Manifesto" published in 2001, it champions four values: individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change. On the exam, multiple-choice questions asking about one of these four values appear regularly.

Differences from Waterfall

Waterfall development proceeds sequentially through requirements definition → design → implementation → testing, and is characterized by high rework costs when moving back to earlier phases. In contrast, agile develops functionality in units of 1–4 week iterations (sprints). On the exam, questions that ask you to judge that "projects where requirements changes are likely" or "cases where you want to deliver working software early" are suitable for agile are common.

Major Agile Methodologies

Scrum

Scrum is currently the most widely used agile methodology, consisting of 3 roles (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Development Team), 3 artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment), and 5 events (Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective). These "3-3-5" components are frequently tested as term identification questions, so be sure to memorize each name and its role as a set.

XP (Extreme Programming)

XP is a methodology that emphasizes technical practices, with main features including pair programming, test-driven development (TDD), refactoring, and continuous integration. In particular, pair programming and TDD often appear in questions asking you to select the correct description from a set of options, so review them.

Kanban

Kanban is a methodology that visualizes work on a "To Do / Doing / Done" board and optimizes workflow by setting WIP (Work In Progress) limits. Unlike Scrum, it does not use timeboxes (sprints) and emphasizes continuous flow—this is the key difference from Scrum.

Key Test Points for the IT Passport Exam

The main areas tested are term identification for Scrum's 3-3-5 (roles, artifacts, events), XP practices (especially pair programming and TDD), and judgment questions on "which projects suit Waterfall and which suit agile."

Typical Past Exam Question Patterns

• "Which of the following is done during a Sprint Review?" type
• "Which of the following best describes a characteristic of agile development?" type

Related Terms

Agile is positioned as a development methodology that supports the speed of DX. For details, see What Is DX. For traditional project management frameworks, refer to PMBOK, WBS, and Gantt Charts, and for the ITIL standard for operations phases, see What Is ITIL.

Study Tips

It is effective to summarize Scrum's 3-3-5 in a single table and review it daily. Memorize the four values of the Agile Manifesto using mnemonics, and be able to instantly rattle off three examples each of situations suited to Waterfall vs. agile—this will help you answer without hesitation on the actual exam.

Summary

Organize your understanding as follows: agile is a "development philosophy of iterating in short cycles," while Scrum is "the most widely adopted concrete methodology within it." To comprehensively practice the Management domain, proceed to Management Summary; to test your skills in a realistic format, move on to the Practice Exam.