Sprint is one timeboxed iteration of a continuous development cycle. Within a Sprint, planned amount of work has to be completed by the team and made ready for review. The term is mainly used in Scrum Agile methodology but somewhat basic idea of Kanban continuous delivery is also essence of Sprint Scrum.
Sprint literal meaning is a short race at full speed. Accordingly, teams usually define a short duration of a Sprint up to 2-4 weeks. Team collaboratively sets their target with Product Owner as “Sprint Goal” and plan their work in “Sprint backlog”. As soon race starts after planning session, team work together to complete planned work effectively and make it ready for review by the end of that period.
High level User Stories readiness in Product backlog is the prerequisite of starting a Sprint Cycle. Sprint Analytics help Scrum Master and Product Owner to know the progress of Sprint in a glance. It is the place to define Sprint Goal and Definition of Done for each Sprint.
Learn more about Sprint Planning from Agile Methodology and Sprint planning practices and Mastering Sprint Planning.