The Agile Manifesto - Principle 3

Principle 3 - Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale

So what’s the difference between this and iterative development?  At first glance, this seems to be the same thing, and indeed it does share many of the same facets of iterative development.  I think that the key takeaway here is “working software”.  If we as a development team focus on the most important aspects of the software first, we should be able to orchestrate iterations (or sprints) designed on delivering software that addresses those aspects.

Releasing frequently, even if only internally, is very beneficial and one of the pieces of Agile development that has been working well for us.  This creates a much shorter feedback loop as testers and business partners can become more engaged by having tangible software to use.  This principle goes hand in hand with principle #2 (welcome change) as often requirements will be changed or refined after seeing what the software actually does.