CRC Cards | Glossary

Definition:

CRC Cards was originally proposed by Ward Cunningham and Kent Beck as a teaching tool, brainstorming tool used in the design of object-oriented software. CRC card is Class-Responsibility-Collaboration card, popular among expert designers and recommended by extreme programming supporters.

CRC cards are index cards, which are used by team members to write relevant class/object of their design which are partioned in threes areas. Class Name on top of the card, with Responsibilities of the class in the left and on right list of other collaborators (classes) with which class interacts to fulfil its responsibilities.

Advantage of CRC cards are, it keeps the complexity of the design at a minimum on a small card where designers focuses on essentials of the class, preventing them to getting them into details and implementation. These cards are portable and can be easily laid out on a table and re-arranged  while discussing a design. You create a CRC card by writing out a scenario which identifies the actors and actions which the actors do. Nouns should turn into the classes of the card, verbs typically turn into the responsibilities of the card, and collaborators are the other cards  with which the card will be interacting.

Further Reading:

Book: The CRC card book by David Bellin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class-responsibility-collaboration_card
http://agilemodeling.com/artifacts/crcModel.htm

The Mastery of Innovation: A Field Guide to Lean Product Development | Book Series

Overview:
The Lean product development principles will surely help companies master the Art and Science of Innovation, to help them generate better ideas and then execute those ideas even more successfully.

The Mastery of Innovation: A Field Guide to Lean Product Development describes the experiences of 19 companies that have achieved significant results from Lean Product Development.

The diverse set of North American and European case studies in this book range from very small Product Development Organizations (three engineers) to very large (more than 10,000). Few of the industries represented include Automotive, Medical devices, Industrial products, Consumer Electronics, Pharmaceuticals, Scientific instruments, and Aerospace These companies had shared their knowledge about Lean Product Development to help you get your best ideas to market faster. Read this book to know more.

Author:
Katherine Radeka

Published In:
2014