Timeboxed programming

For each iteration, you need to decide how long it will take and what features will come with it. As you have seen in Chapter 4, An Agile Workflow in a Nutshell, a typical sprint takes 2 to 3 weeks. Although this may be difficult at first, you will learn soon enough what you and your team members can accomplish during such a sprint. Sometimes you will have no clue how long the development of a feature will take. In that case, a timeboxed approach can help you as well. Before you start working on that feature, you allocate a particular amount of time. Afterwards, you can determine what you have accomplished and you can decide whether the feature can be released as it is. Even if it is not completely functional, as long as it contains no (severe) bugs, it can help you to get early feedback.

Keep things simple and develop only the features that you actually need for that particular iteration. You should ask yourself what it is that you want to prove and what feedback you...