In
software engineering
Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development.
A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term '' ...
, cycle time is a
software metric which estimates development speed in
agile software projects. The cycle time measures how long it takes to process a given job - whether it's a client request, an order, or a defined production process stage. The crucial aspect of measuring the cycle time is considering only the active, operating processing time and discarding any idle, waiting, or service times occurring mid-process.
The cycle time is a useful metric. In contrast to
lead time, which measures the time that the customer waits for their request to be realized, cycle time only counts the time the team spends actively working on the request. The core use of cycle times is to identify the average development times for specific teams or given request types. This lets the software engineering manager predict team engagements and better schedule work.
See also
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Software quality
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Statistical quality control
Statistical process control (SPC) or statistical quality control (SQC) is the application of statistical methods to monitor and control the quality of a production process. This helps to ensure that the process operates efficiently, producing ...
Further reading
What is waste? (Agile Alliance)Takt time - Cycle time (The Lean Thinker)Lead time versus Cycle Time – Untangling the confusion
References
Rates
Clock signal
Instruction processing
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