Practical Software Project Estimation: A Toolkit for Estimating Software Development Effort & Duration

Contents......Page 9
Foreword......Page 17
Acknowledgments......Page 19
Introduction......Page 21
Types of Project Requirements......Page 25
Functional Size......Page 27
Software Estimation Approaches......Page 28
Timing of Estimates......Page 31
Producing a Detailed Estimate......Page 32
Use of Function Point Sizing (Functional Size Measurement) in Effort Estimation......Page 34
Summary......Page 35
2 Factors That Influence Productivity......Page 37
Are Some Languages Better Than Others?......Page 38
What Is the Impact of Team Size?......Page 41
Does the Platform Make a Difference?......Page 42
Application Type......Page 43
Other Project-Specific Characteristics Known to Influence PDR......Page 44
Summary......Page 47
3 Software Estimates: How Accurate Are They?......Page 49
A General Picture......Page 50
Estimation Techniques......Page 52
Effort Estimates......Page 53
Effort Estimation Techniques......Page 54
Delivery Date (Project Duration)......Page 55
Duration Estimation Techniques......Page 56
Cost Estimates......Page 57
Summary......Page 58
4 Sizing Software and Size-Approximation Accuracy......Page 61
Sizing Accuracy Levels......Page 62
Level 4: Default Complexity Measure......Page 63
Level 1: Detailed Linked and Labelled Measure......Page 64
Size Approximation Accuracy......Page 67
Summary......Page 69
5 Some Practical Software Size Approximation Techniques......Page 71
Derived Size Approximation......Page 72
Early Approximation of Functional Size Using ISBSG Data......Page 73
KISS Quick Software Size Estimation Technique......Page 75
Moving from Basic KISS Quick Approach to Other Accuracy Levels......Page 78
Early & Quick Software Size Estimation Technique......Page 79
Early & Quick for COSMIC Function Point Size......Page 80
Using Functional Size to Estimate Project Effort and Duration......Page 82
Summary......Page 83
Identifying Missing Functionality......Page 85
Summary......Page 87
ISBSG Regression Equation Tables......Page 89
Using the ISBSG Regression Equations......Page 90
Creating Graphs from the Equations......Page 91
Example Effort Estimate Using the Equations......Page 92
Summary......Page 93
Using the Comparison Technique......Page 95
Summary......Page 98
9 Estimating Using Analogy......Page 99
Estimating by Analogy......Page 100
Advantages of Estimating by Analogy......Page 101
Summary......Page 103
Work Breakdown Structure: Introduction......Page 105
Using Process Models for Micro-Estimation......Page 107
Summary......Page 109
Code and Reference Tables......Page 111
Summary......Page 112
Use of an Organization’s Own Experience Data......Page 113
The ISBSG Repository......Page 114
Guidelines for Use of the ISBSG Data......Page 115
Summary......Page 117
Overview......Page 119
Functional Size Measurement......Page 120
Project Work Effort and Duration Estimates......Page 121
Regression Equations: Functional Size......Page 122
Regression Equations: Functional Size and Maximum Team Size......Page 124
Example 2: Estimating Using Comparison......Page 126
The Estimating by Comparison Technique......Page 127
Using Estimating by Comparison to Generate Estimates for SSRM......Page 128
Discussion......Page 130
Example 3: Estimating Using Analogy......Page 131
The Estimating by Analogy Technique......Page 132
Using Estimating by Analogy to Generate Estimates for SSRM......Page 133
Discussion......Page 135
Summary......Page 136
14 Estimating for Agile Software Development......Page 137
Estimating an Agile Project......Page 138
The Story Point Scale......Page 139
Calibrating the Story Point Scale Using Past Projects......Page 140
Development Team Velocity......Page 141
Allocating Story Points to Stories......Page 142
Estimating Total Project Schedule and Cost at Project Initiation......Page 145
Allocating Stories to Individual Project Iterations......Page 146
Benefits of Agile Software Estimation Using Story Points......Page 147
Comparing Story Points and Function Points......Page 148
Summary......Page 149
15 A Guide to Estimating Project Cost Using ISBSG Data......Page 151
External Project: Building Software for an External Organization......Page 152
Refining Hourly Charge-Out Rate for Project Team Structure......Page 153
Costing Activities Outside Project Development Tasks......Page 154
Summary......Page 156
Additional Steps to Calculate Non-PDR-Related Project Costs......Page 157
16 Creating a Software Project Estimation Framework Using the ISBSG Repository......Page 159
Using the ISBSG PDR Tables to Create Tables for Your Estimating Framework......Page 160
Step 2. Extract PDR Distributions Based on Development Languages......Page 161
Step 3. Adjust the Extracted PDR Distributions According to Team Size......Page 162
Step 4. Benchmarking Your Projects’ PDR......Page 163
Step 5. Construct the Estimation Framework......Page 164
Calculating a Benchmark Estimate for a Planned Project......Page 165
Step 2. Adjust PDR for Project Size......Page 166
Step 4. Calculate Effort Estimate and Consider the Range of Probable Values......Page 167
Summary......Page 168
How Many FSM Methods Are There?......Page 169
How Hard Is It to Measure Functional Size?......Page 172
Summary......Page 173
ISO/IEC Definitions......Page 175
The Key to Functional Size Measurement Is to “Think Logical”......Page 177
IFPUG Function Point Components......Page 179
What Is Involved in IFPUG Function Point Counting?......Page 181
The Logical Boundary......Page 183
Where Does Functional Size Fit in with the ISBSG and Software Project Estimating?......Page 184
Summary......Page 185
New Development Case Study......Page 187
Functional User Requirements......Page 188
Determining the Functional Size......Page 189
Functional User Requirements......Page 191
Types of Functional Size......Page 193
Summary......Page 194
20 The COSMIC Functional Size Measurement Method......Page 195
The Principles for Measuring the COSMIC Functional Size of a Piece of Software......Page 196
The Process for Measuring the COSMIC Functional Size of a Piece of Software......Page 198
COSMIC Method Documentation......Page 199
Summary......Page 200
Analysis of the Size of the New Software to Be Developed......Page 201
Analysis of the Size of the Enhancement to the Software......Page 203
Summary......Page 204
22 A FiSMA Function Point Case Study......Page 205
Size Measurement of the New Software to Be Developed......Page 207
Size Measurement of the Enhancement to the Software......Page 209
Summary......Page 211
Data Availability......Page 213
Considerations......Page 214
Selecting a Suitable Data Subset......Page 215
What You Can Find in the ISBSG Repository......Page 218
Project Origin......Page 220
Project Context......Page 222
Type of Project......Page 224
Type of Product......Page 226
Development Environment......Page 233
Methods and Tools......Page 237
Additional Documentation......Page 239
B: Project Delivery Rates by Category......Page 241
Explanation of Tables......Page 242
Project Delivery Rates......Page 243
Project Delivery Rate by Use of CASE Tools......Page 256
Project Delivery Rate by Relationship Between Customer, Developers, Users......Page 257
Project Delivery Rate by Project Size......Page 258
Project Delivery Rate by Maximum Team Size......Page 261
The Impact of Maximum Team Size and Project Size on Project Delivery Rate......Page 263
What Are These Estimates Based On?......Page 267
Do These Equations Apply to My Project?......Page 268
What Do the Statistics Mean?......Page 269
D: Project Sample Demographics Used in Chapter 3......Page 277
How to Submit a Project......Page 281
A Description of the Project Benchmark Report......Page 282
F: ISBSG Member Organizations......Page 285
Terms......Page 289
C......Page 291
D......Page 292
M......Page 294
P......Page 295
S......Page 298
U......Page 299
W......Page 300
Metrics......Page 301
References......Page 303
C......Page 307
D......Page 308
F......Page 309
I......Page 310
P......Page 311
S......Page 312
W......Page 313