Iteration
From Mp
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Pattern Type
Practice
This pattern is a practice pattern, since it defines how work is broken up within an existing structured pattern. It defines the approach to dividing chunks of work based upon a time line.
Description
There are a number of different types of "iterations." It's one of those terms that gets overused and abused. It means different things to different people. An iteration in the Spiral Model is much different than an iteration in RUP or in the Agile Methodologies. Because of this, an iteration is considered a generic term for dividing up work within a methodology based upon some time line. That is, fundamentally, an iteration refers to some form of time within which a block of work is defined.
That time may be fixed from iteration to iteration (see the Lifecycle Time-Boxed Iterations), or it may be variable (see the Variable-Length Iterations). It may be defined by the features that are to be done within it, or it may be defined by some length of time. It may even be used to refer to a release, though, typically, that's a Phased Pattern, not an iteration.
There is a fine line between an iteration and any of the Category:Structural Patterns. An iteration is defined within any of the Category:Structural Patterns, and may or may not include all aspects of The Core Process. One of the Category:Structural Patterns must include all aspects of The Core Process, as it represents the entire model of the methodology (or of a "sub-methodology").
