Chapter 9. Planning a Release

Most software projects will do best with a new release every two to six months. Certain website projects may release even more frequently, but even then there is a benefit to collecting related new features into a release. It is frequently useful to start release planning from a product development roadmap showing the main areas of focus for the next handful of new releases. This product development roadmap will certainly change—and we want it to since the changes will be the result of our learning more about our product, its market, and our ability to develop the product.

A product development roadmap can be as simple as a list of the main areas of focus, or themes as Kent Beck calls them, for each of the next few ...

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