What is the difference between Sprint and Iteration in Scrum and length of each Sprint? [closed]

Solution 1:

All sprints are iterations but not all iterations are sprints. Iteration is a common term in iterative and incremental development (IID). Scrum is one specialized flavor of IID so it makes sense to specialize the terminology as well. It also helps brand the methodology different from other IID methodologies :)

As to the sprint length: anything goes as long as the sprint is timeboxed i.e. it is finished on the planned date and not "when it's ready". (Or alternatively, in rare occasions, the sprint is terminated prematurely to start a new sprint in case some essential boundary conditions are changed.)

It does help to have the sprints of similar durations. There's less to remember about the sprint schedule and your planning gets more accurate. I like to keep mine at 2 calendar weeks, which will resolve into 8..10 business days outside holiday seasons.

Solution 2:

Sprint == Iteration.

The lengths can vary, but it's a bad planning precedent to let them vary too much.

Keep them consistent in duration and you will get better at planning and delivering. Everything will be measured by how many 10-day sprints it takes to finish a series of use cases.

Keep them consistent in length and you can plan your deliveries, end-user testing, etc., with more accuracy.

The point is to release on time at a consistent pace. A regular schedule makes management slightly simpler and more predictable.