Small Releases

Now of course you realize that an episode entitled Small Releases would be all about source code control systems -- right? Not just about source code control, but about the history of source code control. Makes perfect sense, right? Well, that's what you've got in store in this episode. This episode is all about the fourth promise in The Programmer's Oath I will make frequent, small, releases so that I do not impede the progress of others. Over the next hour, you're going to learn about the tortuous path we programmers took in order to shorten our cycles from days and hours, down to minutes and seconds. You'll learn why that shortening is so important; and you'll learn just what needs to be shortened. (Hint: It's more than you think.) So buckle up. Because after we talk a bit about Gravity Waves, we're going to uncover the history, and the future, of short cycles.