1.5. Iterations

A key aspect of agile development cycles are iterations. An development iteration is a short time period wherein a set of stories can be planned and implemented. By the end of the iteration, the system should be stable and useable, with the planned updates having been completed. The short development cycle allows progress to be realistically evaluated and decisions to be made. If there are problems or changes that need to be made, they can be discovered sooner rather than later.

Development team estimates and performance during iterations is also measurable. Looking at past performance can allow the team to improve its ability to make accurate estimates when planning future iterations.

AgileTrack views iterations as a core component of the development cycle. Iterations can be defined and described. Stories, tasks, and defects can be assigned to iterations and the time to complete the task can be estimated. During an iteration, AgileTrack tracks and displays statistics about progress of the iteration. Statistics can be viewed later and used to understand performance and measure progress.

Next Section: 1.6. Testing