What is Scrum?

Question

What is Scrum?

Accepted Answer

Scrum is a lightweight **framework for delivering complex products in short, fixed-length iterations called Sprints**. It implements Agile values through a small set of roles, events, and artifacts, all built on empirical process control — learning from what actually happens rather than from a fixed upfront plan.

## The three pillars

Scrum rests on **transparency, inspection, and adaptation**: make work visible, inspect it frequently, and adjust based on what you learn.

```text
ROLES        Product Owner, Scrum Master, Developers
EVENTS       Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum,
             Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective
ARTIFACTS    Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Increment
```

## How it flows

Each Sprint (commonly two weeks) starts with Planning, includes a Daily Scrum each day, and ends with a Review and a Retrospective. Every Sprint should produce a **usable Increment** — a working slice of product.

## Concrete example

A team picks the highest-priority backlog items into a two-week Sprint, builds them, demos a working login feature at the Review, and reflects on how to improve at the Retrospective.

## Common pitfalls

- Running Sprints with no shippable Increment at the end.
- Skipping the Retrospective, which removes the framework's improvement engine.

## Why it matters

Scrum gives teams a predictable rhythm and frequent checkpoints, which surfaces problems early instead of at the end of a long project.

Knowing the exact roles, events, and artifacts shows an interviewer you understand the framework precisely, not just by reputation.