The Epic-vs Story-Quest

[Siegfried Nolte]

What are Epics, what are stoies and what is the difference between them?

There has been a thread about this topic about a year ago. What I learned from this is, they are nearly alike and there is hardly any difference between them in GH anyway. Epic and story is somehow a notion of agile requirement engineering. They, both of them, can be used to collect and analyze requirements. So there is an option for both of them in GH. But they are handled alike, aren't they? They do have the same attributes, they may be devided into subtaks. There is no connection between epics and stories. Stories are no description of epics in detail that will lead to a hierarchy, what I would have expected.

What I learned is to decide one of them and use it and avid the other one. So I chose stories.

What would you do? What have you done?

Thanks,

Siegfried

[Siegfried Nolte · Accepted solution]

Epics vs stories, it's not so much a JIRA/Greenhopper question, it is a methodolocial question of agile requirement engineering generally, and in my eyes it is not really answered yet.

Nevermind, the Greenhopper method to group stories with the field epic/themes is a bit strange, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better to allow Epic/Story subtask links or any hierarchical connection like that?

Anyway, I think this question is answered - somehow.

Siegfried

[Siegfried Nolte]

I would like a hierarchical connection between Epics and Epics and Epics and Stories just like a Story being an Sub-whatever of an Epic or an Epic being a SubEpic of another one.

See for example:

E1
- E11
  = S1
   -- S11

I don' t see this in the new JIRA (>=5). It is a flat connection between them, not something like subtask.

But yes, I accept the answer and thanks a lot for it.

Siegfried

[Nicholas Muldoon]

Hello,

We've recently updated the Epic functionality in GreenHopper.

Thanks,
Nicholas Muldoon

[Henrik Jönsson]

Epics are on a higher level than stories. We use epics to bundle a number of stories together to make them easier to follow.

What I don't understand is why Greenhopper use the Label attributes for the Epics->Story link instead of standard issue linking.

[Siegfried Nolte]

Yes, Henry,

I see. Epics are on a higher level than stories. Both of them are bound to collect and describe requirements. By the way, there are requirements as well. Let's neglect them for now.

You can connect stories to their epic (or epics?) using the "Epic/theme", so you group them under a theme name. That's what we do as well. But what about theming stories under stories and tasks under tasks?

And, you asked as well, why do not put stories to epics like tasks to stories (or to epics)?

Thanks,

Siegfried

[Siegfried Nolte]

Yes, Henrik,

I see. Epics are on a higher level than stories. Both of them are bound to collect and describe requirements. By the way, there are requirements as well. Let's neglect them for now.

You can connect stories to their epic (or epics?) using the "Epic/theme", so you group them under a theme name. That's what we do as well. But what about theming stories under stories and tasks under tasks?

And, you asked as well, why do not put stories to epics like tasks to stories (or to epics)?

Thanks,

Siegfried