Kent Beck

Kent Beck
Born	1961 (age 55–56)
Citizenship	United States
Fields	Software engineering
Alma mater	University of Oregon
Known for	Extreme programming, Software design patterns, JUnit

Kent Beck (born 1961) is an American software engineer and the creator of extreme programming, a software development methodology which eschews rigid formal specification for a collaborative and iterative design process. Beck was one of the 17 original signatories of the Agile Manifesto, the founding document for agile software development. Extreme and Agile methods are closely associated with Test Driven Development, of which Beck is perhaps the leading proponent.

He lives near Medford, Oregon and works at Facebook.

Beck attended the University of Oregon between 1979 and 1987, receiving B.S. and M.S. degrees in computer and information science.

In 1996 Beck was hired to work on the Chrysler Comprehensive Compensation System. Beck in turn brought in Ron Jeffries. In March 1996 the development team estimated the system would be ready to go into production around one year later. In 1997 the development team adopted a way of working which is now formalized as extreme programming. The one-year delivery target was nearly achieved, with actual delivery being only a couple of months late.

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