Hm... I read this quite differently than you do. Not compile cycles, but actual test-driven product iterations.
Do you have more solid sources than I do?
https://intenseminimalism.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-agile-...
https://brettwgreen.com/2014/01/25/rockets-before-rovers/
1) "A brief history of agile methods" asserts:
1958 — Project Mercury (NASA) software development, ran with half-day iterations.
The only thing that looks like it could be intended as evidence for that assertion is the Larman and Basili article.
2) "Rockets before Rovers" asserts:
Project Mercury did half-day iterations with test first development!
3) So there only seems to be one source — Larman and Basili "Iterative and Incremental Development: A Brief History" — which asserts:
"Project Mercury ran with very short (half-day) iterations that were time boxed." page 2
[pdf] http://www.craiglarman.com/wiki/downloads/misc/history-of-it...
Where's the evidence for that assertion?
afaict the Larman and Basili article does not provide a source as evidence for that assertion?
So we're left with nothing.
Hm... I read this quite differently than you do. Not compile cycles, but actual test-driven product iterations.
Do you have more solid sources than I do?
https://intenseminimalism.com/2012/a-brief-history-of-agile-...
https://brettwgreen.com/2014/01/25/rockets-before-rovers/