What is the difference between 'Definition of Done' and 'Definition of Ready' in the development process?

"Definition of Ready" (DoR) and "Definition of Done" (DoD) are criteria that help manage the development process.

• Definition of Ready — a set of conditions that must be met for a task (e.g., user story) to be considered ready to start work. Usually includes:

  • Clearly described requirements.
  • Task estimation.
  • No blockers.
  • Necessary resources and access.

• Definition of Done — criteria that determine when a task is considered fully completed and ready for release or the next stage. Usually includes:

  • Code written and tested.
  • Code review completed.
  • Documentation updated.
  • Testing passed (unit, integration, acceptance).
  • Task merged into the main branch.

Example: a task is considered "Ready" if requirements are clear and estimated, and "Done" when code is tested and deployed to the test environment.