Friday, February 1, 2008

Are incremental and iterative the same?

Do sometimes we get confused with the terms Incremental and Iterative? They are not interchangeable although sometimes they are used that way.

Incremental is when we add an additional piece of function to an application without necessarily changing the already existing code.

Iterative is when we create a new version of an existing application that includes feedback or requirement changes from the previous version or iteration.

Why does this matter? Some development methodologies call themselves iterative when they are really incremental. This can be confusing, especially when your are also doing prototypes.