Bradley Holt has a new post to his blog today talking about something he's a fan of in his development processes - rapid release cycles - and how something like the Zend Framework could benefit from it.

There has been some discussion recently on the Zend Framework mailing list around release cycles. I proposed a release cycle of six months for major versions (someone else suggested eighteen months, which may be more reasonable for a framework). Rapid releases allow one to accelerate the cycle of building, measuring, and learning. Gathering data from actual usage (measuring) provides an opportunity for learning that can be applied to the next release (building).

He points out that the post isn't specifically targeted at the Zend Framework project, merely that it was the inspiration point for the idea. He talks about what rapid release cycles are and what it can give the team that implements it - less worries about backwards compatibility breaks, a potential encouragement for development pacing and the ease for the customers doing upgrades.

A rapid release cycle allows you to apply new learning, knowledge, and perspective as often as possible. Do your best today, and give yourself opportunities to do your best in the future as well.